DISCO  URSE 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON 


MORE  ESPECIALLY   AS 

a  ytomoter 


HATURAZ.  SL  PBYSZOAZ.  SOIBNOE. 

Pronounced  before  the  New-York  Lyceum . 
&c. 

BY  SAMUEL  L.  MITCHIL1, 


GIFT   OF 
EVGENE 


DISCOURSE 

ON  THE 

Character  and  Services 

OF 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 

WORE  ESPECIALLY  AS  A 

PROMOTER 

OF 

• 

N ATURAL  AND  PHYSICAL 
SCIENCE. 

Pronounced,  by  request,  before  the  New-York  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History,  on  the  llth  October ,  1826. 


BY 

SAMUEL  L.  MITCHILL, 

A  Supporter  of  his  Administration,  three  years  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  five 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States;  Member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  at  Philadelphia  ;  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  at  Boston ;  of  the  Antiquarian  Societies  at  Wor- 
cester and  Nashville  ;  Member  of  the  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society  at  New-York ; 
President  of  the  Association  for 
instructing  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  tc.  &c. 


PUBLISHED  BY  G.  &  C.  CARVILL. 
1826. 


Cv 


W.  E.  Dean,  Printer,  JVo.  3  Wall-Street. 


1 


Lyceum  of  Natural  History, 
New-York,  Oct.  16,  1826. 


SIR, 


In  compliance  witk  u  Resolution  of  this  Society,  we 
have  been  appointed  a  Committee  to  solicit  a  copy  of  your  Eulogy 
upon  Mr.  Jefferson  for  publication. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  Servants, 

SAMUEL  AKERLY, 
fyft  DELAFIELD, 
JOHN  J.  GRAVES. 
To  Dr.  S.  L.  MitchilL 


344868 


A   DISCOURSE, 

&C.   &C* 


GENTLEMEN, 

THE  removal  by  death  of  a  citizen  who  had  been  elect- 
ed an  honorary  associate  of  this  Society,  in  1817,  has  serv- 
ed as  a  warning  to  the  surviving  members.  They  have 
determined,  in  the  spirit  of  good  feeling,  to  perform  an  act 
of  respect  toward  THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  His  name  is  regis- 
tered in  our  book,  with  those  departed  worthies  Haiiy  and 
Correa  ;  in  honour  of  whom,  with  all  their  virtues  and  mer- 
its, we  have  decreed  no  ceremonial.  Indeed,  occurrences 
of  this  solemn  kind  are  so  frequent  that,  if  funereal  dis- 
courses were  to  be  pronounced  upon  every  defunct  indivi- 
dual, the  time  and  talent  of  the  living  would  be  too  much 
devoted  to  the  deceased.  The  wisest  course,  therefore, 
seems  to  be,  to  let  the  multitude  go  and  rest  in  their  long 
homes,  without  expending  upon  them  unnecessary  words. 

There  are,  nevertheless,  exceptions  to  the  general  remark ; 
Persons  now  and  then  exist,  whose  lives  and  actions  af- 
ford materials  for  the  instruction  and  amendment  of  the  hu- 
man race.  To  those  who  have  ceased  to  be  inhabitants  of 
this  world  it  is,  probably,  a  matter  of  no  moment  whether  the 
biographer  shall  celebrate  them,  or  not.  Still  there  is  a 
tribute  due  to  their  worth.  A  good  name  is  part,  and  a 
most  important  one  too,  of  a  family  inheritance.  The  hope 


6 

Ihat  a  mrai's  legitimate  successors  will  be  the  better  for  it,  is 
a  strong  incentive  to  worthy  exertion.  But  when  to  this  is 
superadded,  the  consideration,  that  the  history  of  certain 
persons  embraces  many  of  the  important  events  of  their 
age,  and  exhibits  models  or  patterns  for  the  guidance  of  the 
succeeding  generations,  it  becomes  additionally  proper  to 
note  their  sayings,  to  trace  their  doings,  and  to  shew  what 
they  have  performed  for  the  benefit  or  detriment  of  society. 

In  undertaking  the  task  assigned  to  me  by  the  partiality 
of  the  Lyceum,  I  am  fully  sensible  of  its  peculiar  delicacy. 
The  great  and  eloquent  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me 
in  the  same  service  may  be  considered  as  having  seized 
all  the  important  topics,  and  employed  them  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage. When  an  Everett,  a  Duer,  a  Sergeant,  a  Grandy, 
and  a  Wirt,  able  harvesters,  have  pre-occupied  the  field, 
nothing  remains  to  an  humble  and  distant  follower  like  my- 
self but  to  glean  the  scattered  straws  they  have  dropped. 
Perhaps,  huwever,  in  searching  the  stubble,  it  may  be  my 
lot  to  find  a  few  grains  worthy  of  being  picked  up. 

For  fifty  years  and  more  he  whom  we  have  assembled  to 
honour,  has  occupied  a  \\ide  space  in  his  native  State, 
in  the  Fredonian  divisions  ol  IN oith  America,  in  Europe, 
and  throughout  the  civilized  world.  His  name  and  influ- 
ence were  even  more  extensive  ;  for  the  savage  tribes  along 
our  frontier,  and  the  barbarous  pirates  of  Africa  had  heard 
of  him,  and  considered  him  with  a  sentiment  of  respect  min- 
gled with  fear.  Washington  and  Rush,  our  countrymen, 
whose  fame  has  resounded  far  and  near,  have  been  thought 
by  many  the  only  two  who  could  pretend  to  vie  with  Jef- 
ferson. 

It  is,  as  I  interpret  the  commission  under  which  I  act, 
particularly  expected  that  I  should  enumerate,  as  far  as 
practicable,  the  additions  he  made  to  the  natural  and  phy- 
sical sciences  ;  the  undertakings  he  planned  or  patronized 
for  their  promotion  ;  and  the  success  that  followed  the  efforts 
for  their  enlargement.  There  can,  in  my  judgment,  be  no 
doubt,  that  he  alone  has  done  more  for  their  encouragement, 
than  all  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  severally  and 


jointly.  They  were  very  much,  almost  exclusively,  politi- 
cal men ;  but  Jefferson  was  a  political  man,  and  a  great 
deal  more.  His  mind  comprehended  an  extensive  range 
of  general  knowledge  ;  and  he  knew  better  than  most  men 
where  were  the  lacunae  or  gaps.  Of  course  he  could  take 
such  measures  as  might  be  in  his  power,  to  fill  them.  Though 
he  had  no  greater  means  than  have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  other 
citizens  who  have  been  executive  chiefs  of  states  or  nations, 
he  has  turned  his  opportunities  to  much  more  satisfacto- 
ry and  excellent  account-  The  officer  of  the  government, 
who  has  most  nearly  imitated  him  in  explorations  and  ex- 
peditions for  enlarging  the  boundaries  of  knowledge,  is  John 
C.  Calhoon,  the  late  Secretary  at  War.  Under  the  pro- 
tecting shield  of  his  department,  unknown  regions  were  vi- 
sited, by  land  and  by  water,  for  gaining  a  better  acquain- 
tance with  the  aboriginal  natives,  for  repelling  hostility  and 
conciliating  peace ;  for  fixing  military  and  trading  stations  ; 
for  obtaining  topographical  surveys;  for  determining  the 
productions  and  value  of  the  lands ;  and,  in  short,  for  ac- 
quiring that  knowledge  of  our  dominions  which  the  govern- 
ment ought  to  possess.  The  report  of  Major  Long's  voyag- 
ings  and  journeyings  is  a  most  interesting  document, 
evincing  how  much  had  been  performed  by  him  and  his 
worthy  companions,  under  the  aforesaid  patronage.  But, 
it  has  been  told  me,  that  information  of  a  very  momentous 
nature  for  science  is  treasured  among  the  archives  of  the 
war  department,  far  beyond  the  reach  of  geographical  and 
philosophical  inquirers. 

I  shall  not,  therefore,  trace  Mr.  Jefferson  from  his  birth 
to  his  boyhood ;  nor  thence  through  school,  college,  and 
profession,  by  regular  steps-  I  must  take  him  when  in  the 
thirty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  vigorous  in  understanding,  and 
ardent  in  patriotism,  he  made  his  appearance  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Continental  Congress. 

And,  with  much  restriction  I  foresee  there  will  be  quite 
enough  to  occupy  my  hour  ;  and  if  I  should  be  obliged  to 
transgress  it,  1  crave  your  indulgence;  less  however  from 
personal  considerations,  than  the  interesting  nature  of  the 
subject. 


8 

There  is  perhaps  no  written  composition  so  generally 
admired  by  our  citizens,  as  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
by  our  United  States  of  America  in  congress  assembled, 
on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1 776.  This  famous  paper  was 
prepared  by  a  select  committee  appointed  on  the  llth  of 
June  preceding ;  consisting  of  Messrs  Jefferson,  J.  Adams, 
Franklin,  Sherman,  and  R.  R.  Livingston.  The  chair- 
man has  the  credit  of  having  composed  it.  The  resolve 
"  that  the  colonies  are  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  in- 
"  dependent  states ;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegi- 
"  ance  to  the  British  crown  ;  and  that  all  political  connec- 
"  tion  between  them,  is  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved," 
was  agreed  to  on  the  10th.  On  the  1st  July,  the  report 
was  considered  in  the  committee  of  the  whole.  This  was 
afterward  done  on  the  2nd  and  3rd ;  and  it  was  finally 
adopted  on  the  4th.  For  sententious  brevity,  strong  expres- 
sion, and  orderly  disposition  of  the  topics,  the  reading  of  it 
always  brings  to  my  mind  that  incomparable  performance, 
the  Litany  of  the  Christian  church-  In  this,  miserable  sin- 
ners invoke  the  father  of  heaven ;  in  that,  suffering  subjects 
submit  facts  to  a  candid  world.  In  the  latter,  the  One  in 
Three  is  entreated  to  spare  from  all  evil  and  mischief  those 
who  have  been  redeemed ;  in  the  former,  a  worldly  prince, 
for  a  continuance  of  cruelties,  is  denounced  as  a  tyrant,  and 
unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people.  In  the  Litany,  the 
church  supplicates  blessings  and  comforts  from  a  being 
willing  to  grant  them ;  in  the  Declaration,  the  nation  puts 
at  defiance  the  power  that  neither  pities  nor  forgives. 

The  reputation  acquired  by  this  spirited,  able,  and  patri- 
otic a<"t,  was  in  due  time  succeeded  by  his  appointment  to 
the  office  of  Governor.  While  in  this  situation,  he  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity  to  procure  correct  and  detailed 
information  relative  to  almost  every  department  of  the 
State  and  its  Government.  It  is  much  to  be  wished  other 
executive  magistrates  would  follow  the  example. 

About  five  years  afterwards,  that  is,  during  1 78 1  and  1 782, 
before  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary  war,  were  writ- 
ten his  celebrated  notes  on  Virginia.  A  few  copies 


soon  printed  and  distributed  among  his  friends  ;  and  a  trans- 
lation, with  such  modification  as  the  laws  of  the  press  ren- 
dered necessary,  was  published  in  France-  In  1787,  he 
published  the  whole,  in  their  original  form  and  language. 
The  work  purports  to  have  been  written  in  answer  to  que- 
ries proposed  to  the  author,  by  a  foreigner  of  distinction 
then  residing  in  the  country.  These  are  twenty-three  in 
number-  The  information,  relative  to  the  military  and  ma- 
rine force,  to  counties  and  towns,  to  the  constitution  and 
laws,  to  religion  and  manners,  to  the  public  revenue  and 
expence,  is  not  especially  needed  in  the  present  enquiry. 
Nor  is  there  any  thing  very  material  for  our  purpose,  in  the 
disquisitions  on  tories,  manufactures,  commerce,  money, 
histories,  memorials,  and  state-papers. 

But  the  book  treats  of  several  other  matters  which  lie 
fairly  within  the  province  you  have  allotted  to  me.  On  the 
extent  of  the  commonwealth,  he  makes  a  calculation  that 
the  area  within  the  boundaries  amounts  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty:one  thousand,  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  square 
miles,  which  is  one  third  larger  than  the  two  islands  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Though^  to  render  the  con- 
clusion correct  for  the  geography  of  the  present  day,  Ken- 
tucky must  be  deducted ;  as  also  all  the  bed  and  islands  of 
the  river  Potomac  whose  southern  margin  is  the  Virginia 
boundary. 

The  description  of  the  rivers  is  instructive  as  it  an- 
nounces their  fitness  for  navigation  ;  but  the  introduction  of 
the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  the  Kaskaskia,  the  Illinois,  the 
Alleghany,  the  Muskingum,  the  Scioto,  the  Wabash,  and  the 
two  Miamis,  with  an  account  of  Virginia,  is,  as  the  law- 
yers say,  travelling  somewhat  out  of  the  record-  In  his  ob- 
servations on  the  Mississippi  as  one  of  the  principal  chan- 
nels of  future  commerce  for  the  regions  situated  west  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  he  speaks  of  the  current  as  too  rapid 
to  be  stemmed  by  the  force  of  wind  alone  acting  upon  sails  : 
and  decides,  that  a  vessel  navigated  with  oars  may  come 
up  at  any  time,  and  receive  much  aid  from  the  wind.  At 
the  old  rate  of  passing  up  and  down,  a  batteau  went  in  three 

B 


10 

weeks  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  that  of  the  Mississippi  \ 
and  occupied  from  two  to  three  months  to  get  back  again. 
The  introduction  of  steam,  for  propelling  boats,  has  made 
extraordinary  alterations  in  the  conduct  of  this  business  5 
such  as  the  author,  with  all  his  perspicacity,  could  not  be 
supposed  to  have  foreseen.  (Page  7.) 

In  his  reflections  upon  the  modes  of  connecting  the  West- 
ern waters  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  (page  18,)  he  discusses 
the  facilities  afforded  by  the  Hudson,  the  Potomac,  and  the 
Mississippi  itself.  Under  a  conviction  that  all  heavy  com- 
modities will  pass  down  the  latter,  and  that  the  men  who 
conducted  the  arks,  rafts,  and  productions  with  which  they 
were  freighted,  would  go  home  in  light  boats  or  by  land,  he 
supposes  the  main  competition  will  be  between  the  two 
former.  After  a  laboured  comparison,  he  concludes,  like  a 
man  of  southern  interests  and  feelings,  in  favour  of  the  Po- 
lomac ;  through  a  rational  deduction  from  an  estimate  of 
distances  and  of  impediments,  as  they  present  themselves 
on  both  routes.  He  could  not  have  foreknown,  with 
all  his  sagacity  as  a  politician  and  an  economist,  the  com- 
pletion of  a  canal,  for  internal  navigation  and  intercourse, 
extending  from  Albany  to  Bufifaloe,  a  distance  of  more 
than  three  hundred  miles.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  he 
could  have  predicted  that  New- York  should  have  perform- 
ed the  work  from  her  own  resources,  unassisted  by  the  na- 
tional government  or  any  other  auxiliary.  There  was  some- 
thing far  beyond  the  reach  of  the  most  consummate  calcu- 
lation of  the  time,  that  the  vast  work,  began  on  the  4th  July 
in  the  year  1817,  should  have  been  brought  to  a  final  con- 
clusion, on  October  26th,  1 825,  a  little  more  than  seven 
years  after  ground  was  broken. 

Virginia  will  have  the  pleasure,  reward,  and  instruction 
of  following  so  capital  a  precedent.  The  book  published 
in  quarto  by  the  common  council  of  New- York  city,  is  a 
splendid  exhibition  of  the  canal  operations,  from  their  be- 
ginning to  their  ending. 

His  notices  of  the  mountains  are  brief,  inasmuch  as  he 
refers  for  their  particular  geography  to  Fry  and  Jefferson's 


11 

map  of  Virginia,  and  to  Lewis  Evans's  analysis  ot  his  map 
of  North  America,  for  the  most  philosophical  views  of  them. 
Reference  may  now  be  had  to  Volney's  book  on  the  United 
States,  and  to  Madison's  Map  of  Virginia,  for  still  more 
recent  intelligence.  He  mentions  them  truly  as  not  being 
solitary  or  scattered  confusedly  over  the  State,  but  as  com- 
mencing at  about  150  miles  from  the  sea-coast,  and  dispos- 
ed in  ridges,  one  behind  the  other,  in  a  course  nearly  pa- 
rallel with  the  coast ;  that  is,  N.  E-  and  S.  W. ;  though 
rather  approaching  it  as  they  proceed  north-easterly.  To 
the  south-west  they  converge  into  a  single  ridge,  called  the 
Apalachian  mountain.  The  great  dividing  chain  is  the 
Alleghany,  which  is  not  penetrated  by  any  water-course  ; 
while  the  North  Mountain,  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  other  ele- 
vations, are  broken  through  by  James  River  and  the  Poto- 
mac as  they  force  their  way  south-east wardly. 

The  remarks  he  makes  on  the  moderate  height  of  our 
mountains  are  the  result  of  observation-  The  Peaks  of  Ot- 
ter are  considered  as  being  about  4000  feet  above  their 
base:  and  these  are  the  most  elevated  in  Virginia.  And, 
to  be  sure,  the  round  top  of  the  Kaatskill  in  New- York  is 
only  3804  ;  and  Killington  Peak  in  Vermont  and  the  White 
Mountains  in  New  Hampshire,  are  not  sufficiently  elevated 
to  be  the  bearers  of  perpetual  snow,  nor  to  class  with  the 
Alps,  the  Andes,  and  the  other  lofty  summits  of  the  globe. 
(See  Note  A.) 

The  passage  of  the  united  waters  of  the  Shenandoah  and 
Potomac  through  the  Blue  Ridge  at  Harper's  Ferry,  is 
written  with  the  emotion  and  wonder  of  a  young  traveller. 
The  colouring, is  so  high,  that  many  persons  who  have  been 
induced  to  visit  the  place,  have  returned  with  disappoint- 
ment. I  am  one  of  that  number,  having  deliberately  exa- 
mined it  in  1812.  The  scenery  is  really  picturesque  and 
sublime  :  but,  in  my  judgment,  is  much  inferior  to  the 
transit  of  the  Hudson  through  the  Highlands  in  New- York. 

The  substance  he  mentions  as  a  pumice-stone,  that  comes 
floating  down  the  Missouri,  is  supposed  to  have  been  form- 
ed by  the  fire  of  the  burning  banks,  jor  plain*  as  they  have 


12 

been  sometimes  Called.  It  is  said  that  beds  of  ignited  coal, 
near  the  margin  of  that  copious  stream,  have  scorified  some 
of  the  overlaying  materials,  and  converted  certain  of  them 
into  this  light  and  porous  substance. 

The  answer  to  the  fifth  query,  which  treats  of  cascades 
and  caverns,  comprehends  the  information  he  had  prepared 
for  his  friend  on  those  subjects.  The  only  memorable  des- 
cent of  water  he  thinks  it  worth  the  while  to  introduce,  is 
that  of  the  falling  spring  in  Augusta.  This  proceeds  from 
a  source  near  one  of  the  heads  of  James  river,  which,  at 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  spot  from  which  it 
gushes,  is  precipitated  two  hundred  feet  into  the  chasm  be- 
low. The  stream,  which  is  12  or  15  feet  broad  above,  is 
broken  two  or  three  times  in  its  breadth,  but  not  at  all  in 
its  height ;  and  at  the  bottom,  there  is  a  space  between  it 
and  the  rock  sufficiently  wide  to  permit  a  visiter  to  pass 
dry  between  them. 

The  Lime-stone  region  is  remarkably  diversified  there  as 
in  other  countries,  by  excavations.  The  hollow  and  cham- 
bered spaces  are  numerous.  Among  them  he  particularizes 
Madison's  and  Zane's  Caves ;  the  former  dripping  with 
water  that  forms  numerous  and  large  stalactites  ;  and  the 
latter  profound  enough  to  preserve  an  uniform  temperature 
of  57°.  The  Blowing  Cave  is  described  as  it  exists  near  the 
Panther  Gap,  as  having  a  diameter  of  one  hundred  feet  in  a 
side-hill,  and  as  emitting  perpetually  a  current  of  air  strong 
enough  to  prostrate  the  plants  in  its  passage  to  the  distance 
of  twenty  yards. 

He  mentions  also  a  blowing  cave  in  the  Cumberland  moun- 
tain, which  intermits.  The  theory  of  both,  especially  of 
the  former,  requires  further  solution.  He  next  gives  a  cir- 
cumstantial account  of  the  natural  bridge,  as  it  has  been  call- 
ed, over  Cedar  Creek  in  Rockbridge  County,  which  affords 
a  public  and  convenient  road  across  a  r  vine  that  cannot 
be  traversed  in  any  other  place  for  a  considerable  distance. 
The  calcarious  material  of  which  this  connecting  mass  con- 
sists is  45  feet  long  at  the  bottom ;  and  90  at  the  top  ;  it  is 
sixty  feet  broad  in  the  middle,  and  wider  at  the  ends ;  and 


13 

the  depth  of  the  fissure,  over  which  the  arch  expands  is 
more  than  200  feet.  Chattelleux  has  given  a  very  good  print 
of  it  in  his  book  of  travels ;  and  it  well  deserves  the  con- 
spicuous situation  it  occupies.  But  when  our  author  pro- 
nounces it  "  the  most  sublime  of  nature's  works,"  (page  30) 
he  certainly  forgot  the  mountains  of  Kimmalaya  in  Tibet, 
the  stormy  ocean,  the  sun  and  his  accompaniment  of  pla- 
nets, and  the  starry  firmament  at  night ;  and  when  he  de- 
clares that  "  it  is  impossible  for  emotions  arising  from  the 
"  sublime  to  be  felt  beyond  what  they  are  there,"  he  did  not 
recollect  the  avalanches  from  the  Alps,  burying  whole  vil- 
lages with  ice  and  snow  ;  the  winds  of  Arabia,  covering  en- 
tire caravans,  on  their  march  with  suffocating  dust ;  nor  the 
eruptions  of  Vesuvius  and  other  volcanos,  overwhelming 
villages  and  plantations  with  torrents  of  melted  lava  or 
showers  of  igneous  stones. 

The  replies  to  the  sixth  query  seem,  however,  to  contain 
the  most  elaborate  and  pointed  of  all  his  statements.  After 
offering  what  he  knew,  concerning  the  mines  and  subter- 
ranean productions,  such  as  gold,  lead,  copper,  iron,  plum- 
bago, coal,  emerald,  amethyst,  marble,  limestone,  marie, 
salt,  and  some  others,  he  mentions  the  organic  remains 
existing  in  Shistus,  of  which  there  are  extensive  strata,  near 
the  eastern  base  of  the  north  mountain,  presenting  the  re- 
semblances of  shells.  He  had  received,  besides  these,  pe- 
trified shells  from  the  sources  of  the  Kentucky  river,  which 
bore  no  resemblance  to  any  he  had  ever  observed  on  the 
tide-waters-  To  account  for  these  oceanic  and  other  re- 
mains raised  so  high,  and  in  the  Cordilleras,  as  Abbadia 
states,  to  an  elevation  of  15,000  feet  above  the  main  ocean, 
he  quotes  the  three  hypotheses  which  have  been  proposed  : 
1.  The  operation  of  an  universal  deluge  :  2.  In  times  an- 
terior to  tradition  <*r  history,  a  heaving  up  of  the  bed  of  the 
ocean,  by  some  enormous  convulsion  of  nature  with  its  mol- 
luscous and  other  creatures :  and,  3.  A  whimsical  notion 
that  the  relicks  under  consideration  are  erroneously  ascrib- 
ed to  animals ;  inasmuch  as  they  are  mineral  formations, 
assuming  by  their  natural  configuration,  the  shapes  of  shells ; 


u 

at  first  microscopically  small,  and  afterwards  enlarging  with 
the  stone !  All  these  are  dismissed  as  unsatisfactory ;  and 
the  phenomena  left  for  his  successors  to  explain. 

After  noticing  the  warm,  hot,  sweet,  and  other  medicinal 
springs,  he  mentions  the  issues  of  hydrogenous  air,  in  seve- 
ral places,  capable  of  being  inflamed  by  a  lighted  candle,  and 
of  burning  afterwards  for  several  days  without  extinction : 
of  the  same  kind  with  that  which  in  New- York  has  been 
employed  by  the  hunters  to  boil  water  for  cooking,  to  supply 
a  village  in  Chatauge  with  gas-light ;  and  a  light-house 
along  Lake  Erie  with  an  unceasing  supply  of  material  for 
directing  navigators  on  their  voyages.  He  then  comes  to 
such  enumeration  as  he  has  prepared,  of  vegetables  ;  re- 
ferring to  Clayton's  Flora,  as  edited  by  Professor  Gronovius, 
for  more  minute  and  detailed  particulars.  His  very  brief 
lists  contain  the  species  he  names  under  the  titles  of  medi- 
cinal, esculent,  ornamental  and  useful  for  fabrication. 
There  is  no  harm  in  observing  that  the  inquirer  of  the  present 
day  will  obtain  more  ample  intelligence  from  the  publica- 
tions of  the  Michaux,  Pursh,  Eaton,  Torrey,  and  the  recent 
botanists  of  our  region. 

His  great  strength  is  expended  on  the  Zoology  of  Virgi- 
nia ;  and  indeed  from  the  extent  of  his  survey,  of  the  two 
Americas.  Two  distinguished  Europeans  had  taken  the 
liberty  of  undervaluing  the  climate,  and  disparaging  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  animal  race  belonging  to  the  western  he- 
misphere. These  were  the  Count  de  Buffon,  intend  ant  of 
the  King's  Garden  and  Museum  in  Paris,  and  the  Abbe 
Raynal  who  wrote  the  History  of  European  settlements  in 
the  Indies. 

Mr.  Jefferson  encounters  with  great  intrepidity  and  com- 
plete success  the  opinion  advanced  by  Buffon,  "  that  the 
"  animals  common  to  both  the  old  and  the  new  world  are 
"  smaller  in  the  latter ;  that  those  peculiar  to  the  new  are 
"  on  a  smaller  scale ;  that  those  which  have  been  domesti- 
"  cated  in  both,  have  degenerated  in  America ;  and,  that 
"  on  the  whole,  it  exhibits  fewer  species."  The  admirable 
zoologist  of  France,  ought  to  have  known  better  than  to 


15 

have  published  such  a  crude  and  wrong-headed  deci- 
sion. He  was  in  an  egregious  error ;  and  fashionable  as 
that  blunder  was,  our  fellow-citizen  has  completely  exposed 
and  refuted  it.  This  he  has  effected  both  by  reasoning  and 
by  fact ;  and  on  the  latter  point,  has  appealed  to  the  final 
and  unanswerable  judgment  of  the  balance.  That  the 
matters  in  difference  should  be  fairly  displayed,  he  has  ar- 
ranged the  animals  under  three  heads.  1.  Such  as  are 
aboriginals  of  both  hemispheres:  2.  Such  as  are  aborigi- 
nals of  one  only :  and  3.  Such  as  are  domesticated  in  both. 

The  inquiry  relative  to  the  first  head  informs  us,  that  of 
the  twenty-six  quadrupeds  common  to  the  two  continents, 
7  are  reputed  larger  in  America,  7  of  equal  size,  and  1 2 
not  sufficiently  examined.  The  proceeding  under  the  se- 
cond head  has  this  result ;  that  there  are  1 8  quadrupeds  pe- 
culiar to  Europe,  while  there  are  74  peculiar  to  America  5 
and  that  one  of  these,  the  Tapir,  outweighs  all  the  Euro- 
peans put  together.  The  conclusion  from  the  third  head, 
that  of  the  quadrupeds  domesticated  in  both  countries, 
such  as  kine,  horses,  swine,  sheep,  &c.  is,  that  with  equal 
food  and  care,  the  climate  of  America  will  preserve  the 
races  of  domestic  animals  as  large  as  the  European  stock 
from  which  they  are  derived.  In  short,  he  may  be  consider- 
ed as  having  obtained  a  glorious  triumph  over  the  prepos- 
session and  prejudice  he  combats. 

He  next  examines  the  dogma  of  the  Count  which  extends 
the  vilifying  and  deteriorating  effect  of  the  American  cli- 
mate to  the  human  inhabitant,  and  affirms  that  the  man  of 
the  western  hemisphere,  whether  indigenous  or  introduced, 
is  a  degenerate  being.  After  an  able  and  satisfactory  vin- 
dication of  the  Indian  natives,  he  modestly  suggests  a  doubt 
"  whether  (page  93)  the  bulk  and  faculties  of  animals  de- 
"  pend  on  the  side  of  the  Atlantic  on  which  their  food  hap- 
"  pens  to  grow,  or  which  furnishes  the  elements  of  which 
"  they  are  compounded  ?"  and  also,  "  whether  nature  has 
"  enlisted  herself  as  a  Cis  or  a  Transatlantic  partizan  ?" 
For  myself,  I  am  persuaded,  from  careful  examination  of  the 
evidence,  that  the  men  of  Asia  and  America  are  radically 


16 

the  same  on  both  continents  and  their  islands  ;  Malays  in 
the  south,  and  Tatars  in  the  north ;  with  an  intermixture 
of  races  between.  And,  a  comparison  or  a  contrast  between 
an  European  and  a  Siberian,  a  Chinese  or  a  Polynesian, 
would  be  quite  as  sensible  and  edifying  as  the  one  institut- 
ed between  that  race  and  the  American. 

Having  shown  that  the  American  native  possesses  a  full 
proportion  of  mental  energy  and  corporeal  vigour,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  the  consideration  of  the  paucity  of  genius  and  ta- 
lent, which,  according  to  the  Abbe  Raynal,  characterizes 
the  descendants  f  European  emigrants.  "  One  may  well 
"  be  astonished,"  says  he,  "  that  America  has  not  yet  pro- 
"  duced  a  good  poet,  an  able  mathematician,  a  man  of  ge- 
"  nius  in  a  single  art  or  a  single  science."  (7  Hist.  Phil, 
p.  92.)  This  assertion  Mr.  Jefferson  indignantly  and  com- 
pletely repels.  Still  the  presumption  arid  pride  of  Europe- 
ans admit  of  explanation.  They  were  the  colonizers  of 
America.  The  emigrants  they  sent  forth  were  under  their 
laws  and  government.  For  a  long  time,  in  many  settle- 
ments, there  were  very  deficient  means  of  education  for  the 
children  of  the  emigrants.  Offices  of  almost  all  kinds  were 
filled  by  Europeans.  The  most  important  civil  and  military 
places  were  occupied  by  persons  of  such  origin.  Preach- 
ers, schoolmasters,  lawyers,  and  physicians,  were  abun- 
dantly supplied  from  the  same  sources.  The  Mother  Coun- 
try and  the  Father  Land  were  familiar  terms,  expressive  of 
the  dependence  of  children  upon  parents ;  and  in  some  in- 
stances, the  relation  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  that  sub- 
sisting between  servants  and  masters.  This  assumed  su- 
periority begat  by  degrees  a  corresponding  sense  of  inferio- 
rity. The  Colonists  and  their  offspring  really  believed  that 
Europeans  of  the  country  from  which  they  themselves  de- 
rived origin,  were  a  more  exalted  race  of  men  ;  and  for  a 
long  time  yielded  to  their  arrogant  claims  of  supremacy. 
Even  now,  aft^r  the  lapse  of  half  a  century,  the  humiliating 
sentiment  has  not  wholly  disappeared  ;  for  it  is  not  yet  ob- 
solete, in  mentioning  a  voyage  to  Great  Britain,  to  speak  of 
it  as  "  going  home."  In  addition  to  this  circumstance,  it 


17 

may  be  observed,  that  the  disasters  oflife,  the  hardships  of 
adventure,  the  hazards  of  war,  and  even  the  arrival  of  old 
age  and  death  itself,  are  all  charged  to  the  infelicity  of  the 
climate  to  which  the  adventurers  were  exposed.  Thus, 
the  Creoles,  or  descendants  of  Europeans,  acquiescing  in 
the  notion  of  their  own  inferiority,  were  under  the  necessity 
of  struggling  a  long  time  to  regain  their  lost  character.  It 
required  more  than  pacific  activity  and  talent ;  nothing  less 
would  do  than  the  assertion  of  their  discovered  and  asserted 
right  by  force,  whereby  it  was  proved  to  the  whole  world, 
that  they  possessed  the  moral  and  physical  qualities  to  bear 
them  to  independence  through  war.  Mr.  Jefferson,  in 
stepping  forward  as  he  did  in  favour  of  American  power, 
may  be  almost  said  to  have  proclaimed  emancipation  a  se- 
cond time. 

His  list  of  birds  is  confessedly  borrowed  from  Catesby, 
and  nothing  at  all  is  given  about  insects  and  fishes. 

To  his  observations  on  Albinos  may  be  added,  that  they 
are  varieties  happening  occasionally  in  all  the  races  of  men. 
red,  white  and  black ;  and  that  negroes  have  now  and  then 
actually  turned  white  without  incurring  the  tint  of  Albi- 
nage.  It  is  worthy  of  note  too,  that  other  animals,  such  as 
rats,  mice,  rabbits,  minks,  beavers,  crows,  grakles,  robins, 
and  various  others  are  known  to  display  at  times  this  pecu- 
liar hue,  and  the  corresponding  redness  of  eyes. 

As  regards  the  honey  bee,  which  the  author  denies  to  be 
a  native  of  our  continent,  Dr.  Belknap  has  sufficiently 
shown  that  it  is  indigenous  in  the  south,  and  has  been  im- 
ported into  the  north. 

But,  next  to  man,  the  article  of  Zoology,  which  he  has 
laboured  with  the  greatest  study,  is  that  of  the  hugh  Mas- 
todon, called  by  the  Indians  the  big  BufTaloe,  and  by  our 
white  inhabitants,  the  Mammoth.  (Page  55, 62,  73,  and  seq.) 
He  maintains  the  doctrine,  "  that  such  is  the  economy  of 
"  nature,  that  no  instance  can  be  produced,  of  her  having 
"  permitted  any  one  race  of  her  animals  to  become  ex- 
"  tinct ;  of  her  having  formed  any  link  in  her  great  work  so 
"  weak  as  to  be  broken."  He  supports,  of  course,  the  no- 

C 


18 

tion  that  individuals  of  the  Mammoth  are  yet  alive.  With- 
in a  very  few  years,  a  written  communication  was  made  to 
me  from  the  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  which  the  respectable 
writer  entertained  a  similar  belief.  The  evidence,  never- 
theless, is  far  from  being  conclusive.  This  enormous  ani- 
mal is  now  considered  by  the  best  judges  to  be  extinct,  as 
scores  of  other  tribes  are  which  have  once  been  inhabitants 
of  the  globe.  He,  however,  justly  concludes,  that  the 
bones  and  teeth  alone  should  have  sufficed  to  rescue  the 
earth,  the  animal  it  inhabited,  and  the  atmosphere  it 
breathed,  from  the  imputation  of  impotence  in  the  concep- 
tion and  nourishment  of  animal  life  on  a  large  scale. 

The  caverns  abounding  with  the  nitrous  acid  are  some 
of  the  very  memorable  things  the  State  contains.  From 
the  experiments  made  during  the  late  war  of  1812 — 14,  up- 
on the  saltpetre  they  are  capable  of  affording,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  our  country  wholly  independent  of  every 
other  in  this  essential  ingredient  of  gunpowder.  The  caves 
consist  of  calcarious  carbonate.  The  bottoms  are  covered 
with  a  layer,  several  feet  thick,  of  a  nitrous  earth*  It  seems 
to  be  a  nitrate  of  lime  ;  for  to  convert  it  into  saltpetre,  it  is 
carried  out  and  put  into  letch-tubs.  Wood  is  then  burned 
in  the  immediate  vicinity.  The  potash  so  formed  is  dis- 
solved in  water,  and  poured  upon  the  nitrous  earth.  By  its 
action,  the  nitrous  acid  quits  the  calcarious  earth,  joins  the 
potash,  and  escapes  into  the  receiving- vessel  below.  The 
saltpetre  so  formed  is  then  purified  and  crystallized  for  use ; 
while  the  spent  material  is  carried  back  to  the  cavern  for  a 
new  impregnation  with  the  nitrous  acid.  Whence,  in  the 
name  of  science,  does  this  acid  proceed  ? 

The  next  memorable  event  in  connection  with  my  sub- 
ject is  his  mission,  as  minister  plenipotentiary,  to  France  in 
1 784.  He  had  prepared  the  way  for  a  welcome  reception 
there,  by  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  officers  who 
commanded  the  fleet  and  army  sent  by  our  great  and  good 
ally,  Louis  XVI.,  to  aid  us  during  our  revolutionary  war, 
under  Rochambeau  and  De  Grasse  ;  by  the  circulation,  in 
the  French  tongue,  of  his  book,  and  by  the  general  res- 


19 

pectability  of  character  he  had  attained  while  there,  he  ex- 
tended his  knowledge  of  scientific  men  and  things :  he 
made  tours  and  journeys  of  observation  ;  he  collected  books 
of  rare  occurrence  and  of  precious  editions,  even  from  the 
shops  and  fairs  of  Germany.  I  recollect  well  the  minute 
and  detailed  history  he  had  written  of  the  grape,  and  of  the 
several  sorts  of  wine  it  afforded ;  and  the  whole  nation 
knows  how  the  destruction  of  the  Congressional  library  at 
the  Capitol  by  an  incendiary  enemy  was  repaired  by  the 
purchase  of  his  rich  and  diversified  collection.  If  his  func- 
tion iii  Europe  had  been  confined  to  the  accumulation  of  so 
much  intellectual  treasure,  both  the  present  and  future  ge- 
nerations ought  to  be  thankful. 

But  an  event  was  preparing  in  his  own  country  which 
rendered  it  expedient  for  him  to  come  home.  The  political 
association  of  the  States,  which  bore  them  through  the 
revolution,  was  found  incapable  of  sustaining  them  with 
credit  and  effect  afterward.  In  1787,  a  convention  of 
delegates  from  the  States  assembled  in  Philadelphia, 
and  formed  a  new  constitution  for  the  nation.  Dur- 
ing the  residue  of  that  and  the  succeeding  year,  it  was  ra- 
tified by  a  sufficient  number  of  the  States  to  render  it  ope- 
rative. The  functionaries  of  this  novel  government  assem- 
bled in  New- York  in  1789.  It  pleased  the  President  of 
the  United  States  to  nominate  Mr.  Jefferson  Secretary  of 
State.  In  that  capacity  he  was  called  upon  to  prepare  a 
Report  on  Weights  and  Measures,  pursuant  to  the  powers 
vested  in  Congress  for  regulating  the  same.  In  this  per- 
formance he  recommended  the  pendulum  as  the  instrument 
for  finding  the  standard  of  Measure ;  a  method  which  suc- 
ceeding calculators  and  ssavans  have  not  sanctioned.  The 
astronomers  and  geometricians  of  France  have  preferred  the 
mensuration  of  an  arc  of  the  meridian  ;  the  ten  millionth  of 
which  they  recommended  for  the  purpose.  Yet  even  this, 
after  seven  and  more  years  of  labour  performed  by  some  of 
the  most  scientific  men  that  ever  honoured  human  nature, 
has  failed  in  a  great  degree  to  accomplish  its  object.  Dif- 
ficulties, hitherto  insuperable,  have  stood  in  thb  way.  In 


20 

1817  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  referred  the  subjeci 
to  John  Quincy  Adams,  then  Secretary  of  State  ;  who,  in 
1821,  made  them  a  return  highly  indicative  of  his  industry 
and  research.  Indeed,  without  comparing  this  exercise 
with  any  other  performed  by  the  same  distinguished  indivi- 
dual, I  may  observe,  if  he  had  written  nothing  else  while  he 
held  that  office,  he  would  deserve  to  be  quoted  with  respect 
and  honour.  After  giving  the  history  of  the  particulars 
which  signalized  the  metrical  system  of  France  during  their 
revolutionary  period,  Mr.  Adams  continues  :— "  the  spec- 
"  tacle  is  at  once  so  rare  and  so  sublime,  in  which  the  ge- 
"  nius,  the  science,  the  skill,  and  the  power  of  great  confe- 
"  derated  nations  are  seen  joining  hand  in  hand  in  the  true 
"  spirit  of  fraternal  equality,  arriving  in  concert  atone  des- 
"  tined  stage  of  improvement  in  the  condition  of  human 
"  kind  ;  that  not  to  pause  for  a  moment,  were  it  even  from 
"  occupations  not  essentially  connected  with  it,  to  enjoy 
"  the  contemplation  of  a  scene  so  honourable  to  the  cha- 
"  racter  and  capacities  of  our  species,  would  argue  a  want 
"  of  sensibility  to  appreciate  its  worth.  This  scene  formed 
<;  an  epocha  in  the  history  of  man.  It  was  an  example  and 
"  an  admonition  to  the  legislators  of  every  nation,  and  of 
"  all  after  times."  (Page  69.)  Adams,  on  this  occasion, 
silently,  as  such  things  are  usually  and  generally  passed 
over,  has  shown  himself  worthy  of  the  illustrious  university 
(Harvard  in  Massachusetts)  of  which  he  was  a  learned  and 
eloquent  professor.  After  all  the  labour  bestowed  upon 
these  researches,  and  the  exalted  hopes  entertained  from 
their  accomplishment,  he  nevertheless  proposes  (p.  92)  that 
"  no  present  change  whatever  should  be  attempted  in  our 
"  existing  weights  and  measures ;  to  let  the  standards  re- 
"  main  precisely  as  they  are ;  and  to  confine  the  proceed- 
"  ings  of  Congress  at  this  time  to  authorize  the  executive  to 
"  open  communications  with  the  European  nations  where 
"  we  have  accredited  ministers  and  agents,  and  to  make 
"  such  declaratory  enactments  and  regulations  as  may  se- 
"  cure  a  more  perfect  uniformity  in  the  weights  and  mea- 
"  sures  throughout  the  Union*35  In  page  46,  there  is  a  re- 


21 

specltul  allusion  to  the  Report  made  to  the  House  of  Re- 
presentatives by  his  predecessor. 

In  tracing  the  eventful  life  of  this  distinguished  citizen,  1 
come  now  to  mention  his  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
American    Philosophical  Society,   held  at    Philadelphia. 
Here  he  was  the  member  chosen  to  fill  the  chair   left 
vacant  by   the  death  of  David  Rittenhouse.      He  held 
the  place  until  he  voluntarily  withdrew,  and  gave  room  for 
the  elevation  of  Caspar  Wistar.   To  preside  over  this  asso- 
ciation is,  perhaps,  as  high  an  honour  as  can  be  conferred 
upon  a  scientific  man  in  our  country.     It  is  the  oldest  of 
our  institutions  of  that  class,  and  has  laboured  with  more 
diligence  and  effect  than  any  other.  In  the  series  of  Trans- 
actions, it  has  published  many  papers  promotive  of  know- 
ledge and  creditable  to  the  authors.    Nor  are  the  members 
weary  or  discouraged.  Their  labours  continue ;  and  in  con- 
venient progression,  an  additional  volume  of  valuable  mat- 
ter is  added  to  those  which  went  before. 

I  now  proceed  to  mention  his  memoir  printed  in  the  fourth 
volume  of  the  Society's  Transactions,  No.  xxx.  page 
246  and  seq.,  on  the  discovery  of  certain  bones  of  a 
quadruped  of  the  clawed  kind  in  the  western  parts  of 
Virginia.  The  paper  was  read  on  the  10th  March, 
1797.  This  communication  seems  to  have  been  made 
while  he  was  Vice-President.  In  it  he  states  various 
matters  of  a  memorable  kind.  They  may,  perhaps,  be  best 
exhibited  in  the  form  of  an  abstract. 

The  excellent  author  mentions  the  saltpetre  caverns  in 
the  country  situated  beyond  (reckoning  from  the  Atlantic 
region)  the  blue  ridge  of  mountains.  In  one  of  these  caves 
of  Green  Briar  County,  the  labourers,  at  the  depth  of  two 
or  three  feet,  dug  out  some  bones,  the  size  and  form  of  which 
bespoke  an  animal  new  to  them.  It  is  generally  known  that 
the  substratum  beyond  the  mountains  is  limestone,  and 
that  the  natural  excavations  abound  in  saltpetre-  From 
these  caverns,  some  of  which  are  nine  miles  in  extent,  this 
neutral  salt  is  obtained  in  great  quantities.  They  may  be 
Considered,  as  already  said,  the  unexhaustible  store-houses  of 


the  article,  for  all  future  wars  and  contingences.  The  bones 
he  procured  from  his  friends,  who  collected  them,  consist  ot — 
1.  a  small  fragment  of  the  femur,  or  thigh-bone  ;  2.  a  radius, 
perfect ;  3.  a  broken  radius,  whose  two  portions  can  never- 
theless be  adapted  \  4.  Three  claws  and  half  a  dozen 
other  bones  of  the  foot,  with  a  few  fragments.  He  proposes 
to  call  the  creature,  of  whose  skeleton  these  are  portions, 
Megalonyx  or  the  Great  Claw;  a  name  so  happily  selected, 
that  it  has  been  adopted  by  the  zoologists.  The  author 
endeavours  to  prove,  by  ingenious  estimates  and  venato- 
rial  narrations,  that  the  former  owner  belonged  to  the  Lion- 
family,  but  was  more  than  three  times  as  large  as  the  lion. 
Some  of  the  adventures  of  the  early  settlers  are  told  with 
so  much  spirit  and  taste,  as,  with  all  their  seriousness,  to  im- 
press the  mind  with  the  stories  of  bewitching  fiction. 

Subsequent  enquiry  by  those  who  have  classified  ani- 
mals according  to  their  organization,  has  decided  that  the 
being  to  whom  these  relicks  belonged  was  a  member  of  the 
Bradypus,  or  Sloth  family  ;  and  that  the  race  seems  to  be 
already  extinct.  It  would  be  foreign  to  my  purpose  to  in- 
stitute a  formal  enquiry  wherefore  it  happens  that  the  Crea- 
tor should  destroy,  or  doom  to  destruction,  any  works  of  his 
hands.  Every  day  indicates  that  individuals  of  a  race  ex- 
pire ;  while  notwithstanding,  the  race  itself,  by  the  procrea- 
tive  and  multiplying  power,  is  perpetuated.  In  other  cases, 
there  is  memorable  reverse.  The  individuals  of  a  species 
drop  off  until  none  survive.  It  is,  as  I  should  suppose,  be- 
cause in  the  judgment  of  the  ALL-WISE,  it  ought  to  be  so  ; 
we  ought  to  submit  reverently  to  the  decision.  I  feel  singu- 
lar satisfaction  in  stating  to  you,  that  through  the  active  in- 
strumentality of  Professor  Harlan,  a  member  of  this  society, 
the  American  Philosophical  Society  at  Philadelphia  made  a 
generous  donation,  worthy  of  being  mentioned  with  honour, 
to  the  New- York  Lyceum  of  the  aforesaid  peculiar  articles. 
In  connection  with  the  subject,  the  mention  is  unavoidable 
of  another  extinct  species  of  the  Bradypus,  called  the  Ma- 
gatherium  ;  one  specimen  of  which,  as  to  bony  structure, 
disinterred  in  Paraguay,  is  preserved  in  the  King  of  Spain's 


23 

museum  in  Madrid.  And  the  partial  skeleton  of  another  j 
found  on  Skiddaway  Island,  Georgia,  having  been  reported 
to  us,  our  associate  William  Cooper,  Esq.  has  procured  all 
the  articles  he  could,  and  registered  the  facts  in  our  annals  ; 
and  the  bony  relicks  in  our  museum,  together  with  some  of 
the  teeth,  prove  that  the  remains  of  this  quadruped,  hereto- 
fore only  known  by  his  fossil  relicks  found  in  the  southern 
hemisphere,  has  also  been  an  inhabitant  of  about  an  equal 
latitude  in  the  northern-  Mr-  Hackley,  late  Consul  of  our 
United  States  in  the  capital  of  Spain,  obligingly  forwarded 
an  elegant  print  of  the  skeleton  from  the  bank  of  the  river 
La  Plata  :  so  that,  putting  all  the  articles  of  intelligence 
together,  our  Cabinet  contains  good  pieces  of  Megatherian 
and  Megalonic  relicks. 

It  is  proper  to  observe  that  there  is  a  particular  descrip- 
tion, with  figures,  of  these  bones,  which  had  been  deposited 
in  the  museum  of  the  society,  in  the  same  volume,  page 
526  and  seq  by  an  able  anatomist,  Dr.  Caspar  Wis- 
tar,  the  late  Professor  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
After  full  examination,  he  decided  in  a  manner  since  deem- 
ed correct  by  Cuvier  and  the  other  recent  zootomists,  that 
the  Great  Claw  of  Virginia  belonged  to  a  creature  different 
from  that  of  Paraguay. 

The  next  of  his  publications  of  a  scientific  character  is 
intitled  the  Description  of  a  Mould-board  of  the  least  re- 
sistance, (printed  in  the  same  volume,  No.  xxxviii.  page  313 
and  seq.)  and  of  the  easiest  and  most  certain  construction, 
taken  from  a  letter  to  Sir  John  Sinclair,  President  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  at  London.  It  was  read  on  the  4th 
May,  1798.  Herein  he  describes  in  detail  how  this  part  of 
the  plough  may  be  constructed  so  as  not  only  to  raise,  but 
to  turn  over  the  sward.  He  affirms  that  five  years  trial  had 
convinced  him  that  it  answered  in  practice  what  it  promis- 
ed in  theory.  If  elevating  the  sod  was  all,  the  wedge  would 
do  the  business.  But  as  the  sod  is  to  be  turned  over,  one 
edge  of  the  wedge  is  not  to  be  raised  at  all ;  while  the  other 
edge  is  to  be  raised  until  it  passes  the  perpendicular,  that 
the  sod  may  fall  by  its  own  weight.  And  that  this  may  be 


24 

done  so  as  to  give  the  smallest  resistance,  it  must  be  made 
to  rise  gradually  from  the  moment  the  sod  is  received.  The 
Mould-board  then,  in  this  second  office,  operates  as  a  trans- 
verse or  rising  wedge,  the  point  of  which  sliding  back  hori- 
zontally on  the  ground,  the  other  end  continues  rising  till  it 
passes  the  perpendicular.  He  gives  precise  directions  how 
to  form  such  a  Mould- board,  which,  he  says,  may  be  made 
by  the  coarsest  workman,  after  a  process  so  exact,  that  its 
form  shall  never  be  varied  a  single  hair's  breadth.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  several  figures  illustrating  the  method 
do  not  accompany  the  memoir-  I  remember  well  the  wood- 
en model  he  used  to  show  at  Washington.  Considering  the 
plough  the  most  useful  instrument  invented  by  man,  he  was 
desirous  of  contributing  his  labours  for  its  improvement, 
under  a  conviction  that  its  perfection  could  not  be  deemed 
an  idle  speculation. 

This  is  the  place,  in  the  order  of  events,  to  mention  his 
proceedings  under  a  Resolve  of  Congress  approved  on  the 
16th  April  1800,  relative  to  the  copper  mines  (as  they  were 
then  called)  on  the  south  side  of  Lake  Superior.  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson was  then  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  The 
exaggerated  accounts  of  vast  beds  of  that  metal,  lying  bare 
on  the  earth  and  beds  of  rivers,  led  to  the  adoption  of  this 
provision.  It  "  authorized  the  President  to  employ  an 
"  agent,  who  should  be  instructed  to  collect  all  material  in- 
"  formation  concerning  the  copper  mines  on  the  south  side 
"  of  Lake  Superior,  and  to  ascertain  whether  the  Indian 
"  title  to  such  lands  as  might  be  required  for  the  use  of  the 
"  United  States,  be  yet  subsisting ;  and  if  so,  the  terms  on 
"  which  the  same  can  be  extinguished :  and  that  the  said 
"  agent  be  instructed  to  make  report  to  the  President  in  such 
"  time,  as  the  information  he  may  collect  be  laid  before 
"  Congress  at  their  next  session-"  The  person  appointed 
for  this  service  drew  a  sum  from  the  Treasury  as  an  outfit, 
and  he  delayed  the  expedition  too  long  to  present  the 
report  within  the  specified  time.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son himself  became  President ;  and&eing  satisfied  the  mis- 
sion was  idle,  and,  if  needful,  in  improper  hands ;  directed 


a  suspension  of  the  proceedings,  and  an  account  to  tho 
Treasury  for  the  money.  (See  Note  B.) 

I  come  now  to  an  event  which  ranks  among  the  most 
memorable  of  his  administration — the  acquisition  of  Louisia- 
na. The  western  and  southern  boundaries  of  our  national 
territory  had  always  been  matter  of  anxiety  and  doubt. 
When  Mr.  Jay  negociated  the  treaty  at  Madrid,  the  Span- 
iards claimed  the  greater  part  of  the  country  situated  to  the 
westward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  I  have  seen  a  map, 
on  which  was  a  painted  line  to  that  effect,  made  by  the 
Duke  D'Aranda's  own  hand.  Our  able  minister,  however, 
succeeded  in  settling  the  middle  of  the  river  Mississippi  as 
the  boundary,  from  its  source  to  the  3 1st  degree  of  latitude  ; 
but  beyond  that,  Spain  possessed  the  whole  jurisdiction  and 
navigation  of  the  stream  to  its  junction  with  the  gulf.  This 
power  was  always  a  subject  of  uneasiness  to  our  people, 
and  occasionally  of  discontent.  The  produce  of  the  west- 
ern states  could  not  reach  the  ocean,  without  the  permission 
of  a  foreign  government.  Indeed,  it  became  necessary  to 
solicit  a  place  of  deposit  there  ;  and  likewise  to  establish  a 
hospital  for  sick  boatmen  and  adventurers.  The  order  of 
an  intendant  had  interrupted  this  arrangement,  and  thrown 
our  citizens  inhabiting  the  trans- alleghanian  lands  into  se- 
rious alarm.  With  the  progress  of  population  and  increase 
of  labour,  the  difficulty  appeared  to  invite  force,  if  the  im- 
pediment could  not  be  removed  by  milder  means. 

A  method  of  attaining  a  result  so  desirable  occurred 
during  the  year  1803.  France,  under  the  Buonapartean 
rule,  was  now  in  great  want  of  money ;  and  it  was  contriv- 
ed to  raise  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  by  the  acquisition  and 
sale  of  Louisiana.  On  this  occasion,  it  may  be  proper  to 
mention  a  few  particulars  relative  to  title  and  extent.  That 
vast  region,  comprehending  the  Mobile  settlements,  had 
been  colonized  by  the  French.  The  grants  to  Messrs. 
Crozat,  Law,  and  others,  having  been  relinquished  in  the 
year  1731,  the  French  monarchy  ceded  so  much  of  the  pro- 
vince as  lies  beyond  the  Ibberville  river,  including  the  Is- 
land New  Orleans,  by  a  secret  treaty  m  1762^  to  Spain  : 

D 


2J6 

and  by  the  general  treaty  of  peace  which  followed  the  Ca- 
nadian war  in  1 763,  the  whole  territory  of  France  and 
Spainr  eastward  of  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Ib- 
berville,  thence  through  the  middle  of  that  river  and  the 
Lakes  Maurepas  and  Ponto  Chartrain  to  the  sea,  was  ceded 
to  Great  Britain.  Under  the  former  possession  by  France, 
the  eastern  limit  of  Louisiana  was  the  river  Perdido  This, 
under  the  British  sovereignty,  was,  with  some  territory  situ- 
ated to  the  eastward,  denominated  West  Florida.  Spain, 
during  the  war  of  our  revolution,  conquered  this  and  East 
Florida  too  from  Great  Britain,  and  acquired  the  right  to 
them  both  by  the  treaty  of  1783.  Afterwards,  to  wit,  in 
1800,  the  Catholic  King  retroceded  to  France  the  whole  of 
Louisiana,  according  to  its  ancient  and  proper  limits.  This 
having  been  confirmed  by  the  treaty  of  Madrid  in  1801,  the 
French  Government  sold  the  entire  province,  in  its  full  ex- 
tent, as  heretofore  possessed  by  France  and  Spain,  for  the 
aforesaid  sum  to  our  United  States.  On  this  occasion  it 
was  the  good  fortune  of  .Mr.  Jefferson  to  have  Robert  R» 
Livingston,  (see  Note  C,)  as  his  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at 
the  Court  of  France.  By  vigilance  and  adroitness  in  seiz- 
ing the  proper  opportunity,  and  particularly  in  urging  the 
claims  of  our  merchants  upon  the  French  Government  for 
spoliation  on  their  property  to  the  amount  of  three  millions 
and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  he  at  length 
closed  the  bargain. 

Lawful  possession  having  been  acquired  on  the  20th  De- 
cember 1803,  Mr.  Jefferson  immediately  exerted  himself  to 
acquire  as  much  information  as  he  could  concerning  a  coun- 
try of  such  unknown  condition  and  extent ;  and  he  has 
thereby  placed  himself  before  the  world  as  one  of  the  most 
substantial  promoters  of  statistical,  natural,  and  physical 
science. 

He  began  this  work  of  inquiry,  by  writing  letters  to  sen- 
sible persons,  requesting  them  to  collect  and  transmit  to  the 
executive  the  intelligence  he  sought.  These  applications 
brought  forward  answers  to  a  large  amount.  As  the  infor- 
mation they  contained  was  intended  for  the  nation,  through 


their  representatives  in  Congress,  and  the  original  commu- 
nications were  too  rough  and  voluminous  for  publication, 
totidem  verbis,  the  whole  mass  of  documents  was  put  into 
the  hands  of  a  competent  person  for  the  purpose  of  being  re- 
duced to  a  condensed  abstract  or  compendium-  This  came 
forth  in  print  under  the  title  of  "  An  Account  of  Louisiana  ; 
"  being  an  abstract  of  documents  in  the  offices  of  the  de- 
"  partments  of  state  and  the  treasury,"  &c-  With  other 
matters,  this  very  instructive  work  treats  of  boundaries, 
divisions,  general  description  of  Upper  Louisiana,  estimate 
of  the  tribes  and  numbers  of  the  native  Indians,  the  culti- 
vation of  sugar,  and  the  low  state  of  learning. 

Among  the  alleged  facts  adduced  on  this  occasion,  was 
the  story  of  a  Salt  Mountain  about  one  thousand  miles  up 
the  Missouri,  and  not  far  from  its  bank.     This  was  a  sub- 
ject of  much  wonder  and  animadversion  at  the  time.  Some 
persons  went  so  far  as  to  deny  its  existence.     It  is  certain, 
nevertheless,  the  President  believed  it ;  for  he  exhibited,  and 
even  distributed,  specimens  of  the  article  said  to  have  been 
brought  from  the  mountain-     His  correspondents  deceived 
him  in  this  particular.  There  is  no  mountain  there  ;  far  less 
a  mountain  of  salt.     But  salt  is  so  abundant,  as  in  some 
places  to  distress  travellers  for  want  of  fresh  water  to 
drink.     The  real  account,  as  far  as  I  could  gather  from  the 
Osages,the  French  settlers,  hunters  and  others,  is  this  : — Be- 
tween the  northern  branches  of  the  river  Arkansa  is  an  ex- 
tensive plain,  called  the  Salt  Prairie.  This  is  several  leagues 
in  diameter.     The  salt  springs  are  constantly  oozing  out 
their  contents-  In  the  dry  season,  part  of  the  water  evapo- 
rates, and  the  salt  concretes  on  the  surface  like  an  incrus- 
tation or  a  hoar-frost.     Marine  plants  grow  there.     The 
place  is   frequented  by  innumerable  bisons   (or  buffaloes) 
in  herds.     A  project  has  been  started  for  carrying  oysters 
to  the  Arkansa,  for  propagation.  There  is  salt  without  end  ; 
only  it  does  not  seem  to  be,  as  in  some  other  parts  of  the 
globe,  heaped  into  mountains  of  Sal  Gem.  Captain  Lewis 
himself  assured  me  that  the  story  of  the  salt  mountain  was 
incorrect. 


Pending  these  negotiations,  the  foresight  of  the  Presi- 
dent (of  the  United  States)  had  procured  the  enactment 
of  a  statute,  approved  Feb.  28,  1803,  denominated  "  An 
"  Act  for  extending  the  external  commerce  of  the  United 
"  States."  Under  the  moderate  appropriation  of  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars,  provision  was  made  for  a  grand 
expedition.  It  will  be  remembered,  to  the  honour  of  Mr. 
Jefferson  and  the  Congress,  that  this  step,  with  all  its  bold- 
ness, was  authorized  before  the  treaty  for  the  country  was 
adopted. 

Fully  sensible  of  the  importance  attached  to  an  acquaint- 
ance with  our  territory,  he  had  selected  two  gentlemen, 
holding  the  commission  of  captains  in  the  army,  to  conduct 
the  enterprize.  The  name  of  one  was  Lewis,  and  the  other 
Clarke ;  the  former  distinguished  for  his  astronomical  and 
other  scientific  attainments,  and  the  latter  for  his  military 
ability  to  command,  and  for  that  professional  tact,  which 
on  an  emergency  demanding  something  to  be  done  in  an 
instant,  enables  the  agent  to  decide  right.  The  preparation 
was  begun  immediately.  The  persons  employed  were,  to 
lessen  expence  and  to  ensure  success,  military  men  of  the 
army.  They  returned  during  1806.  Their  instructions 
were  to  penetrate  as  far  as  the  Pacific  or  great  Western 
Ocean. 

During  the  expedition,  communications  relative  to  the 
condition  and  productions  of  the  country  were,  on  all  prac- 
ticable occasions,  forwarded  to  the  President.  Where  that 
mode  of  intercourse  was  not  possible,  the  articles  collected 
were  reserved  to  be  brought  home  by  the  adventurers  in 
person.  They  atchieved  so  much,  that  I  told  Lewis  one  day 
shortly  after  his  return  to  Washington,  when  he  dined  with 
me,  I  looked  upon  him  almost  as  a  man  arrived  from  ano- 
ther planet.  Among  other  things  a  better  map  of  the  coun- 
try was  prepared  than  ever  had  been  compiled  before. 
Until  then,  the  best  delineation  known,  probably,  was  that 
by  the  Indians,  on  the  tawed  hide  of  a  huge  bison,  forward- 
ed to  the  Government  by  General  Wilkinson. 


29 

There  was  a  considerable  lapse  of  time  before  their  jour- 
nal appeared.  The  manuscript  required  revision  and 
amendment.  The  specimens  in  natural  history  stood  in 
need  of  description  and  classification.  Drawings  were  in 
some  instances  wanted.  All  these  operations  required 
time.  Meanwhile  a  private  soldier  of  the  party,  named 
Patrick  Gass,  published  at  Pittsburgh  an  account  of  the  ad- 
venture in  a  cheap  and  brief  form ;  which,  though  written 
by  an  humble  man,  served  to  gratify  in  a  considerable  de- 
gree publick  curiosity,  and  to  disclose  a  number  of  interest- 
ing facts.  It  was  several  years  before  the  authentic  narra- 
tive came  forth :  but  then  it  was  under  the  sanction  of  the 
noble  projector  himself.  It  would  be  foreign  to  the  object 
of  my  appointment  to  lay  before  you  even  an  epitome  of  its 
contents  ;  but  I  may  disclose  to  you,  that  Lewis  thought 
the  signal  advantage  to  be  ultimately  derived  from  their 
geographical  and  zoological  discoveries,  would  be  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  trading  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River,  for  expediting  the  commerce  in  furs  to  China. 

In  his  message  to  Congress  of  Dec.  2,  1&06,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son observes  thus : — "  The  expedition  of  Messrs.  Lewis  and 
"  Clarke  for  exploring  the  river  Missouri,  and  the  best  com- 
"  munication  from  that  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  has  had  all 
"  the  success  which  could  have  been  expected.  They  have 
"  traced  the  Missouri  nearly  to  its  source,  descended  the 
"  Columbia  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  ascertained  the  geography 
"  of  that  interesting  communication  across  our  continent, 
"  learned  the  character  of  the  country,  of  its  commerce  and 
"  inhabitants ;  and  the  whole  party  deserve  well  of  their 
"  country." 

The  party  had  started,  as  I  said,  in  1803,  and  returned  in 
1 806.  Lewis  was  rewarded  by  being  made  Governor  of 
Upper  Louisiana  territory,  now  the  State  of  Missouri.  An 
attempt  was  also  made  to  compensate  Clarke  by  promoting 
him  from  the  rank  of  Captain  to  that  of  Colonel ;  but  the 
senate  negatived  the  President's  nomination.  This  gallant 
officer  then  went  to  his  native  State,  Kentucky,  where  he 
was  requested  by  Mr.  Jefferson  to  cause  the  ground  near 


30 

the  Salines,  called  the  Bigbone  Licks,  to  be  dug  tip ;  and 
the  fossil  relicks  to  be  forwarded  for  him  to  Washington  ci- 
ty.    This  was  so  faithfully  executed  during  1 807,   that  a 
consignment  which  arrived  in  the  Potomac  early  in  March 
1808,  by  the  way  of  New-Orleans,  was  charged  with  ex- 
pences  for  transportation,  &c.  to  the  amount  of  three  hun- 
dred dollars.    The  collection  was  probably  the  most  exten- 
sive that  was  ever  seen  together  at  one  display.     As  they 
lay  on  the  floor  of  one  of  the  great  saloons  in  the  President's 
honse,  the  present  narrator  surveyed  them  in  company  with 
the  owner  ;  and  methodized  them  under  the  following  heads: 
1 .  Many  dozens  of  the  smaller  bones,  apparently  of  the 
mastodon,  which  seem  to  have  been  parts  of  the  feet,  and 
might  serve  to  complete  the  whole  compages  belonging  to 
those  parts,  by  enabling  anatomists  and  zootomists  to  com- 
plete the  osseous  remains  thereabout ;  2.  Bones  of  the  legs  ; 
3.   Bones  of  the  head   and  upper  jaw ;    4.  Two  kinds  of 
teeth,  very  large  and  detached  from  the  sockets — some  of 
the  mastodon  and  others  of  the  elephant ;  5.  Fragments  of 
the  lower  jaw,  with  grinders  in  their  proper  place  ;  6.  An 
enormous  tusk,  much  larger  than  that  of  the  elephant  : 
though  decayed  at  both  extremities,  it  was  ivory ;  7.  Seve- 
ral smaller  tusks-  the  least  of  which  was  three  feet  long; 
they  possessed  great  specific  gravity,  were  decayed  and 
broken  at  the  ends,  and  disposed  to  crumble  and  drop  to 
pieces  by  exposure  to  the  air;  8  Ribs  of  the  shape  common 
to  mastodon  skeletons;  9.  Skulls  and  clints  of  bisons,  dis- 
interred with   the  preceding  ;    10.    Very  large  vertebrae. 
(See  Note  D-)     It  was  understood  at  the  time,  that  he  ar- 
ranged these  fossil  bones  into  three  parcels ;  one  of  which 
he  kept  himself,  one  he  sent  to  Philadelphia,  and  the  other  to 
Paris.  The  Count  De  la  Cepede's  letter,  (dated  Sept.  1 808), 
on  receiving  information  of  the  gift  to  the  national  institute 
of  France,  is  now  before  me.     It  attaches  peculiar  value 
to  the  articles,  and  states  that  they  should  be  deposited  in 
the  royal  museum  of  natural  history,  for  the  most  effectual 
gratification  of  public  curiosity.     The  donation  evidently 


31 

paved  the  way  for  his  election  to  the  exalted  situation  of  a 
foreign  member  of  the  national  institute. 

With  a  determination  to  acquire  further  knowledge  of 
the  new  territory  annexed  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, in  August  1 805,  sent  Lieutenant,  (afterwards  General) 
Pike,  with  a  military  escort,  to  trace  the  Mississippi  from 
St.  Louis  to  its  source.  He  visited  Leech  Lake  and  Red 
Cedar  Lake,  two  of  the  high  sources  of  that  river.  The 
latter  of  these  lakes  is  not  more  than  two  leagues  distant 
from  some  of  the  waters  running  into  Hudson's  bay.  Its 
latitude  was  47°  42'  40"  N-  ;  and  the  longitude  95°  8'  W. 
from  Greenwich-  The  time  employed  in  this  service  was 
not  quite  nine  months-  The  report  made  to  the  Govern- 
ment was  accompanied  with  a  map. 

This  intelligent  and  enterprising  officer  had  succeeded  so 
well,  that  in  1806  he  was  sent  upon  another  mission  for  the 
purpose  of  making  discoveries.  He  started  from  St.  Louis, 
and  travelled  to  the  Osage  towns  and  the  Kanza  villages 
as  a  peace-maker,  and  passed  the  country  to  the  Arkansa, 
where  the  party  divided  ;  one  section  under  Lieut.  Wilkin- 
son descending  toward  the  Mississippi,  and  the  other  un- 
Lieut.  Pike  himself  ascending  toward  the  source.  After 
visiting  the  river  Platte  and  returning  to  the  Arkansa,  he 
made  an  attempt  to  find  the  Red  River  ;  but  labouring  un- 
der a  mistake  in  regard  to  its  true  source,  he  went  so  far  to 
the  westward  as  to  miss  it  altogether  ;  and  to  his  great  sur- 
prize, found  himself  within  the  Spanish  settlements  near  the 
banks  of  the  Bravo  or  Rio  del  Norte,  where  he  was  made 
a  prisoner  and  called  a  spy  !  The  general  idea  he  gave  of 
the  vast  regions  he  traversed  is  that  of  the  most  dismal  ste- 
rility. Their  aspect  uninviting  and  inhospitable  in  the  ex- 
treme. For  many  a  day's  journey  in  succession  there  is 
not  a  tree,  and  scarcely  a  shrub,  to  relieve  the  dreariness  of 
the  scene-  Waste  and  sandy  deserts  occupy  the  principal 
spaces  between  the  great  rivers.  Those  extensive  and  level 
regions  are  in  many  places  so  impregnated  with  salt,  that 
the  streams  are  sometimes  too  briny  to  be  drunk  :  and  the 
water  even  capable  of  being  evaporated  for  the  purpose  of 


32' 

obtaining  that  article.  The  wilderness  of  Louisiana  has 
thus  a  near  resemblance  to  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  the  plains 
of  Tatary,  and  Zaara  of  Numidia  ;  and  by  its  savageness 
and  expanse,  it  will  be  capable  of  forming  a  wide  and  last- 
ing barrier  between  our  United  States  and  their  neighbours 
to  the  west  and  south.  This  nakedness  of  the  country 
does  not  appear  to  be  the  consequence  of  fires  in  the  woods 
changing  the  forests  to  savannas,  but  of  the  natural  steri- 
lity of  the  soil ;  owing,  in  many  spots,  to  its  impregnation 
with  salt,  producing  a  coarse  and  scattered  grass  that  serves 
to  feed  the  herds  of  bisons  roaming  over  these  dreary  tracts. 
From  the  scarcity  of  wood,  it  was  sometimes  necessary  to 
collect  the  dung  of  these  animals  for  fuel.  There  is  great 
scarcity  of  dew  and  rain.  Between  the  Kanza  and  the 
Bravo,  the  Indians  wage  exterminating  wars  ;  and  Lieut. 
Pike  informed  me,  so  shy  and  wary  were  the  inhabitants, 
that  for  a  distance  of  between  700  and  800  miles  between 
the  two  rivers,  though  he  saw  a  few  times  tracks  and  ves- 
tiges of  men,  he  did  not  behold  a  human  creature  all  the 
way,  but  his  own  people. 

Intent  upon  exploring  the  country,  an  expedition  up  the 
Red  River  was  confided  to  Mr.  Freeman  ;  which,  though 
conducted  with  zeal  and  prudence  meriting  entire  approba- 
tion, was  not  equally  successful.  For,  after  proceeding  up 
it  for  about  six  hundred  miles,  nearly  as  far  as  the  French 
settlements  had  extended,  the  geographers  were  obliged  to 
return  without  completing  their  work. 

I  mention  another  instance  of  the  unceasing  efforts  he 
made  to  ascertain  the  condition  and  worth  of  the  purchase. 
In  October,  1804,  Messrs.  Dunbar  and  Hunter  proceeded 
up  the  Washita  or  Black  River.  After  visiting  the  station 
called  Fort  Miro  in  30°  30',  and  various  other  places,  amidst 
many  difficulties  among  shoals  and  rapids,  they  at  length 
reached  the  hot  springs  situated  toward  the  source  of  the 
river,  in  lat.  34°  31'.  Their  journal  was  illustrated  by  a 
map*  (See  Note  E.) 

The  lead  mines,  situated  west  of  the  Mississippi,  are  pro- 
bably the  most  abundant  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  That 


metal  is  so  very  important  in  its  relation  to  the  arts,  anil  es- 
pecially to  the  operations  of  war,  that  it  is  particularly  de- 
sirable a  nation  should  possess  a  domestic  and  abundant 
supply  of  it.  Mr.  Jefferson  therefore  procured  in  1804,  an 
account  of  their  names  and  localities  from  Moses  Austin, 
Esq.  which  he  laid  before  Congress  in  a  printed  form.  The 
subject  has  since  been  treated  more  at  large  by  Mr.  School- 
craft.  It  is  memorable  for  having  given  rise  to  the  noto- 
rious stock-jobbing  project  of  Mr.  Law,  a  little  more  than 
a  century  ago.  The  ore  is  a  galena,  or  a  combination  of 
the  metal  with  sulphur.  Great  quantities  of  lead  are  ex- 
tracted for  supplying  the  western  States,  and  for  the  con: 
sumption  of  the  Atlantic  region,  by  exportation  through 
New  Orleans.  It  is  affirmed  that  the  working  of  this  mi- 
neral has  wrought  a  remarkable  change  in  fhe  manners  of 
the  Indians  around  the  Prairie  des  Chiens.  As  the  wild 
animals  became  scarce,  these  aboriginal  tribes  grew  poor 
and  necessitous.  But  they  at  length  discovered  that  lead 
would  purchase  for  them  at  the  factories,  blankets,  vermil- 
lion,  and  other  things,  quite  as  well  as  furs  and  skins.  At 
first  they  carried  the  crude  ore  to  the  traders ;  but  these 
men,  to  avoid  the  trouble  and  expence  of  melting  out  the 
metal,  refused  after  a  while,  to  receive  the  galena  in  pay- 
ment, and  thereby  compelled  the  natives  to  reduce  it.  And 
thus,  by  a  sudden  and  peculiar  transition,  hunters  were  chang- 
ed to  metallurgists. 

He  deserves  honourable  noticafor  ajecomfnemimg^o  Cpn- 
gress  the  establishment  of  a  National  University.  This 
measure,  however,  though  urged  in  strong  terms,  never  met 
the  approbation  of  the  national  legislature.  Some  mem- 
bers entertained  doubts  of  its  constitutionality ;  while  others 
thought  that  seminaries  of  learning  ought  generally  to  be 
patronized  by  the  States  respectively.  Such  was  the  dis- 
like of  the  project,  that,  on  one  occasion,  during  a  subsequent 
administration,  when  I  acted  as  chairman  of  a  select  com- 
mittee on  the  paragraph  of  the  executive  message  relative 
to  a  national  university,  there  were  only  two  members  out  of 
seven  in  its  favour,  and  the  chairman  was  made  to  perform 

E 


34 

the  hard  service  of  preparing  a  report  unfavourable  to  the 
object,  and  adverse  to  his  own  opinion.  All  that  has  been 
done,  is  the  incorporation  of  a  college,  under  another  title, 
at  Washington  city. 

"  Education,"  he  observes  in  his  message  of  December  2, 
1806,  "  is  here  placed  among  the  articles  of  public  care  ; 
"  not  that  it  would  be  proposed  to  take  its  ordinary  branch- 
"  es  out  of  the  hands  of  private  enterprise,  which  manage 
"  so  much  better  all  the  concerns  to  which  it  is  equal ;  but 
"  a  public  institution  can  alone  supply  those  sciences, 
"  which,  though  rarely  called  for,  are  yet  necessary  to  com- 
."  plete  the  circle,  all  the  parts  of  which  contribute  to  the 
"  improvement  of  the  country,  and  some  of  them  to  its  pre- 
"  serration.  The  subject  is  now  proposed  for  the  consi- 
"  deration  of  Congress ;  because,  if  approved,  by  the  time 
"  the  "State  legislatures  shall  have  deliberated  on  this  ex- 
"  tension  of  the  federal  trusts,  and  the  laws  shall  be  passed 
*'  and  other  arrangements  made  for  their  execution,  the  ne- 
"  cessary  funds  will  be  on  hand  and  without  employment. 
"  J  suppose  an  amendment  to  the  constitution,  by  consent 
"  of  the  States,  necessary  ;  because  the  objects  now  recom- 
*c  mended  (meaning  roads,  rivers,  canals,  &c.)  are  not 
i{  among  those  enumerated  in  the  constitution,  and  to  which 
•*'  it  permits  the  public  monies  to  be  applied.  The  present 
"  consideration  of  a  national  establishment  for  education 
"  particularly,  is  rendered  proper  by  this  circumstance  also, 
"  that  if  Congress,  approving  the  proposition,  shall  think  it 
"more  eligible  to  found  it  on  a  donation  of  lands,  they 
"  have  it  now  in  their  power  to  endow  it  with  those  which 
"  will  be  among  the  earliest  to  produce  the  necessary  in- 
•'  come.  This  foundation  would  have  the  advantage  of  be- 
•'  ing  independent  on  war,  which  may  suspend  other  im- 
u  provements,  by  requiring  for  its  own  purposes  the  re- 
"  sources  destined  for  them.'7 

Though  he  held  just  ideas  of  the  animal  economy,  and 
understood  as  well  as  any  body  the  art  of  living,  yet  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  laboured  much  in  the  cause  of  medicine. 
Yet  there  are  two  occasions  on  which  he  came  forward  ; 


35 

one  was,  on  the  substitution  of  the  cow-pock  for  the  Vario- 
lous  disease  ;  when  it  was  said,  and  I  believed  it,  that  so 
zealous  was  he  in  its  favour,  that  he  vaccinated  numbers 
with  his  own  hand.  The  other  was,  notice  of  the  yellow  fe- 
ver, in  one  of  his  messages,  as  a  malady  confined  to  tide-wa- 
ters, and  not  originating  or  spreading  beyond  their  reach  or  in- 
fluence. The  sentiment  is  in  unison  with  the  views  of  those 
persons  who  believe  it  invariably  a  disease  of  foreign  parts, 
and  of  introduction  from  the  sea-ports  of  the  south.  It  co- 
incides with  the  sanitary  statutes  and  regulations  of  the 
State  legislatures,  who  have  generally  and  substantially  en- 
acted the  provisions  of  the  Marseilles'  code,  for  guarding 
Christendom  against  the  plague  of  the  Mahometans. 
The  same  tide- water  principle  has  been  urged  very  forcibly 
in  a  late  publication  by  the  Chevalier  Beauregard  of  Paris, 
who  affirms  that  the  yellow  fever  never  spreads  beyond  four 
or  five  leagues  from  the  oceanic  swell. 

It  may  be  proper  to  mention  iiere  an  anecdote  of  the  wa- 
riness with  which  he  sometimes  credited  intelligence.  It  is 
well  known  that  in  December  1807,  there  was  a  descent 
of  stones  from  the  atmosphere  to  the  earth  in  the  towns  of 
Fairfield,  Weston,  and  Huntington,  Connecticut,  immedi- 
ately consequent  upon  the  explosion  of  a  fiery  meteor-  My 
correspondents,  Holley  and  Brunson,  who  went  early  on  a 
tour  of  exploration,  wrote  me  an  account  of  their  adven- 
ture, and  sent  me  by  the  mail  a  specimen  of  the  aerolite.  I 
was  then  at  Washington  city  attending  the  session  of  Con- 
gress, and  received  the  intelligence,  with  the  article,  a  day 
sooner  than  any  person  ;  even  before  the  representatives  of 
Connecticut  knew  any  thing  about  the  occurrence.  The 
news  excited  great  sensation,  particularly  as  the  whim  was 
then  prevalent  that  these  productions  were  ejected  from  the 
moon  by  volcanic  fire  The  curiosity  of  a  senator  who 
lodged  at  the  same  house  with  myself  was  worked  to  a  high 
pitch.  He  had  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  with  the  Pre- 
sident that  day  ;  and  he  induced  me,  by  earnest  solicitation, 
to  lend  him  the  letter  and  its  accompaniment  for  communi- 
cation to  the  philosopher  of  Montecello.  He  returned  from 


nie  party  indignant  at  the  reception  of  his  story.  He  said 
it  produced  the  most  perfect  sang  froid,  or  provoked  a  sort 
of  scornful  indifference  :  and  that  J.  said  he  could  answer  it 
in  five  words.  The  gentleman  desirous  of  knowing  what 
they  were,  was  told  they  were  these — it  is  all  a  lie.  To  my 
friend  then  I  replied,  they  had  so  imposed  upon  him  in  rela- 
tion to  the  mountain  of  salt,  that  he  seemed  to  be  resolutely 
on  his  guard  against  a  trick  by  a  shower  of  stones. 

It  is  now  time  to  mention  the  discussion  that  took  place 
in  February  1 804,  relative  to  the  extent  and  boundaries  of 
Louisiana.     It  had  been  the  lot  of  the  person  who  now  ad- 
dresses you  to  act  in  the  capacity  of  chairman  to  a  select 
committee   appointed  by  the  House  of  Representatives  to 
enquire  into  the  expediency  of  enabling  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  cause  certain  remote  and  unknown  parts 
of  Louisiana  to  be  explored.     During  the  performance  of 
that  service  he  held  official  conference  with  the  chief  execu- 
tive about  the  business.     In  determining   the  limits,  the 
chairman  observed,  that  beside  the  tracts  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  it  included  all  the  regions  lying  to  the 
westward  thereof,  to  the  dividing  ridge  called  the  Shining 
or  Rocky  Mountains  ;  and   beyond  that  chain  quite  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  occupying  all  the  space  between  the  territo- 
ries claimed  by  Great  Britain  on  one  side  and  by  Spain  on 
the  other.     To  this  proposition  1  objected  that  the  claim 
was  extravagant,  and  the  vast  tracts  lying  on  the  eastern 
slope  of  those  mountains,  as  watered  by  the  streams  falling 
into  the  Mississippi,  with  as  much  coast  as  we  could  procure 
along  the  gulf,  was,  in  all  conscience,  enough.    After  some 
further  conversation,  he  concluded  that  if  I  chose  to  report 
according  to  my  own  plan,  he  saw  no  actual  harm  in  it  ; 
for  in  the  present  case,  as  in  a  declaration  at  law,  under  a 
large  demand,  any  smaller  amount  might  be  recovered.     I 
reported  so  ;  the  money  was  appropriated,  the  explorations 
went  on,  and  public  opinion  has  ever  since  sanctioned  the 
doctrine — that  the  purchase  rightfully  reaches  quite  through 
to  the  ocean  of  the  west.     (See  Note  F.) 

It  here  becomes  me  to  notice  the  project  begun  under 


reign  of  Washington,  and  continued  beyond  that  of  Jeffer- 
son, for  civilizing  the  Indians.   There  were  two  methods  of 
proceeding  toward  these  people  ;  one  warlike  ami  extermi- 
nating ;  the  other  pacific  and  civilizing.  Both  had  their  ad- 
vocates.   After  mature  deliberation,  and  after  the  defeats 
of  Harmar  and  St.  Clair,  it  was  resolved  to  make  an  over- 
ture of  a  friendly  nature  ;  first,  to  the  numerous  tribes  of  the 
Cherokees,  and  afterward  to  the  more  powerful  bands  of  the 
Creeks.     Benjamin  Hawkins,  a  senator  in  Congress  from 
North  Carolina,  consented  to  undertake  the  bold  and  dubi- 
ous mission.     Among  the  former,  the  experiment  has  so  far 
succeeded  that  they  hold  property  in  severally,  cultivate 
land,  raise  cotton  and  manufacture  it  into  cloths,  own  cat- 
tle, horses,  andnegroe  slaves,  keep  ferries,  support  schools 
for  reading  and  writing,  count   monied  currency,  and  have 
stationary  settlements.     The  latter  too  had  made  admirable 
advances,  but  their  promising  progress  toward  the  domestic 
and  useful  arts  was  sadly  interrupted  by  the  death  of  Colo- 
nel Hawkins,  by  feuds  and  quarrels  among  themselves,  and 
by  the  severe  and  desolating  war  in  which  they  and  their 
bad  advisers  implicated  themselves  with  our  United  States. 
The  narrative  of  this  distinguished  citizen,  who  possessed 
singular  talent  and  zeal  for  the  work,  ought  to  be  known  to 
every  philanthropist.     (See  Note  G.) 

The  latter  years  of  his  life  were  industriously  devoted  to 
the  furtherance  of  riteraTure  and  science  in  his  native  State. 
Measures  had  been  adopted  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
17th  century  to  establish  a  college  in  the  colony  ;  and  the 
English  sovereigns,  William  and  Mary,  distinguish  to  this 
day  the  august  personages  who  were  honoured  as  patrons. 
But  its  location,  however  judicious  it  might  have  been  con- 
sidered at  the  time,  was  by  no  means  conducive  to  its  ulti- 
mate prosperity.  Williamsburgh  was,  in  the  course  of  events, 
forced  to  yield  its  seat  of  government  to  Richmond,  as  more 
salubrious  and  central.  The  same  reasons  which  took  away 
the  representatives  of  the  people  from  this  spot  as  a  place 
for  legislative  deliberation,  withheld  many  of  the  most 
wealthy  planters  from  sending  their  sons  to  it  as  a  semina- 


38 

ry  of  education.  An  opinion  was  rationally  formed  by  the 
citizens  who  inhabited  the  lands  above  the  flow  of  the  es- 
tuaries and  beyond  the  rapids  of  the  rivers,  that  the  high 
country  was  preferable  to  the  low,  for  a  temple  of  the 
Muses.  Virginia  had  pride  and  feeling  enough  to  wish  for 
a  university  of  its  own.  Snli,  for  a  century  and  more,  there 
were  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way.  Williamsburgh, 
by  degrees,  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  deserted  village, 
or  decayed  borough  ;  surrounded  by  lands  exhausted  by  til- 
lage, depreciated  by  governmental  desertion,  oppressed  by 
a  slave  population,  and  remote  from  the  route  of  travelling, 
the  resort  of  fashion,  and  centre  of  business  :  the  proper- 
ty of  the  college,  indeed,  remained ;  but  what  could  that 
avail  without  students?  It  had  been  the  custom  of  parents 
to  send  a  portion  of  their  sons  to  Europe  for  instruction, 
and  other  portions  to  institutions  in  the  neighbouring  States. 
In  fine,  the  termination  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  political  career 
happened  when  the  crisis  of  literary  depression  had  arriv- 
ed. He  became  satisfied  it  was  high  time  to  make  an  ef- 
fort honourable  to  himself,  useful  to  the  commonwealth,  and 
beneficial  to  families,  in  a  healthy  and  accessible  situation, 
where  the  male  youth  might  be  trained  to  all  the  studies 
preparatory  to  the  civic,  professional,  official  and  military 
duties  of  life.  He  may,  I  believe,  without  disparaging  the 
labours  of  any  other  gentleman,  be  pronounced  the  "  auc- 
"  tor,  promoter,  et  perfector  Operis  ;"  the  man  without  whom, 
the  undertaking  would  never  have  been  begun,  or,  if  com- 
menced, would  have  incurred  a  failure.  The  site  having 
been  fixed  near  his  own  residence,  he  gave  the  plan  and 
the  construction  an  extraordinary  space  of  his  personal  su- 
perintendance.  His  influence  and  example  seem  to  have 
had  a  powerful  effect  upon  private  and  public  feeling  ;  in- 
somuch that  requisite  funds  were  procured  and  applied  ; 
and  the  ancient  dominion,  as  Virginia  has  been  quaintly 
denominated,  now  contains  within  her  own  precincts,  a  well 
endowed  corporation,  with  the  title  and  authority  of  a  uni- 
versity. 
I  believe  I  have  noticed,  however  briefly,  the  principal 


39 

events  of  his  life  that  have  a  bearing  upon  the  physical  and 
natural  sciences.  Yet  other  matters  remain  to  be  mention- 
ed. 

He  seems  to  have  been  blessed  with  a  good  organization 
that  bore  him  fourteen  years  beyond  the  threescore  and  ten 
allotted  to  man,  without  memorable  disability  of  any  kind. 
Even  the  penmanship  of  his  latter  days  bears  evidence  of 
a  clear  eye,  a  steady  hand,  and  a  discriminating  mind.  No 
mortal  knows  the  term  of  his  existence  here.  It  is  a  high 
felicity  for  such  as  are  doomed  to  protracted  vitality,  to  es- 
cape the  pain  and  languor  of  disease  ;  for,  without  at  least 
a  moderate  degree  of  health,  I  can  discover  very  little  to 
enjoy  in  this  world. 

Such  a  good  frame  enabled  its  possessor  to  be  industri- 
ous, and  at  the  same  time  rendered  industry  operative  and 
effectual.  He  probably  lost  fewer  hours  and  minutes  than 
most  men.  His  capacity  embraced  so  many  objects,  that 
in  city  or  country,  alone  or  in  company,  at  home  or  abroad, 
there  was  always  something  upon  which  it  might  be  exer- 
cised. There  was  neither  need  nor  room  for  idleness ;  for 
in  the  constant  succession  of,  objects,  torpor,  lassitude,  and 
ennui  had  no  admittance.  Perhaps  the  adage,  /TJ^XW  -mXa 
f^a»0*vwv — I  grow  old  learning  many  things,  was  seldom  bet- 
ter illustrated. 

Much,  therefore,  of  his  writing  was  done  by  his  own  pen. 
It  could  scarcely  be  supposed  by  those  who  did  not  know 
him,  how  much  paper  he  covered  with  manuscript.  Even 
messages  to  Congress  and  communications  to  the  Senate, 
that  might  have  been  well  enough  done  by  a  secretary,  of- 
ten bore  the  autograph  of  the  President. 

From  this  habit  of  business,  though  always  occupied,  he 
was  seldom  or  never  in  a  hurry-  He  was  easy  of  approach  ; 
and  rarely  secluded  himself  from  the  visits  of  those  who 
wished  to  see  him.  He  kept  his  work  so  much  a-head,  that 
he  could  patiently  hear  communications  at  full  length,  and 
either  answer  them,  or  put  them  in  a  train  for  considera- 
tion. 

His  topics  of  knowledge  were  so  ample  and  various  that  he 


40 

could  converse  agreeably  on  almost  any  subject.  On  those 
of  which  he  had  acquired  the  mastery,  it  was  instructive  to 
listen  to  him  ;  where  his  attainments  were  less,  he  was  still 
a  pleasing  colloquist ;  and  if  he  sought  information,  no  one 
knew  better  the  art  of  listening  and  inquiring  than  he.  His 
faculty  of  recollection  was  very  ready  ;  and  that  which  he 
did  not  instantly  call  to  mind  he  knew  where  to  go  and 
find.  I  have  known  one  of  his  political  adversaries,  during 
the  rage  of  the  bitterness  and  violence  which  prevailed  du- 
ring his  administration,  enter  into  his  presence  with  a  senti- 
ment formed  from  the  Opposition  gaxettes,  as  if  he  was  go- 
ing to  see  a  fury  or  a  monster,  and  return  from  the  inter- 
view undeceived  and  disappointed,  praising  him  as  a  well- 
bred  and  well-informed  gentleman. 

It  can  now  be  comprehended  in  some  measure  how  he 
attained  his  happy  power  of  epistolary  composition  ;  I  mean 
particularly  the  art  or  knack,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  of  answer- 
ing written  communications.  He  attained  a  proficiency  in 
this,  which  perhaps  was  never  equalled,  certainly  not  sur- 
passed by  any  one.  He  was  addressed  by  persons  who  were 
strangers  to  him,  as  well  as  by  those  whom  he  knew,  on  an 
almost  endless  diversity  of  subjects ;  and  where  the  manner 
was  respectful  he  generally  took  some  notice  of  the  appli- 
cation. In  these  exercises,  which  have  been  extensively 
spread  before  the  public,  he  has  given  numberless  proofs 
of  his  admirable,  I  may  almost  say,  inimitable  powers  of 
language  and  expression.  I  know  no  compositions  in  that 
way  which  surpass  his.  He  had  the  scavoir  dire,  et  It  sea- 
voirfaire  ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  true  mode  of  explanation 
and  exhibition  of  himself  to  folks,  in  the  most  becoming  and 
winning  mode.  (See  Note  H.) 

Among  the  subjects  of  conversation,  I  take  this  oppor- 
tunity of  mentioning  one  which  is  rather  of  an  uncommon 
nature.  It  relates  to  anonymous,  abusive,  and  threatening 
letters.  In  the  course  of  my  public  life  I  had  been  assail- 
ed repeatedly  by  such  missiles.  I  told  this  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  asked  if  he  had  not  experienced  the  like.  He  had  re- 
ceived a  great  number  of  such  epistles ;  some  filled  with  ma- 


41 

iedictions,  some  replete  with  denunciations,  and  others 
menacing  even  murder  and  assassination.  I  told  him  my 
proceeding  on  reading  such  communications  was  to  lock 
them  up  or  to  burn  them,  and  to  say  nothing  to  any  per- 
son whatever  about  the  matter.  He  observed,  that  it  was 
the  right  course  ;  for  that  such  writers  were  cowards  and 
not  the  objects  of  dread  or  apprehension ;  and  that,  by 
keeping  the  secret  inviolable,  if  any  thing  was  ever  said  on 
the  subject,  it  must  come  from  the  author  or  from  some  one 
to  whom  the  author  had  told  it. 

He  was  exceedingly  displeased  with  the  increase  of  the 
public  debt  during  the  reign  of  the  President  who  preced- 
ed him.  He  thought  the  payment  of  that  and  the  whole 
amount  incurred  by  the  revolutionary  war,  ought  to  be  made 
in  the  shortest  possible  time.  For  this  every  effort  should 
be  used-  Economy  in  every  department  was  not  only  re- 
commended, but  actually  practised-  The  army  was  reduc- 
ed to  an  inconsiderable  body — the  judiciary  was  retrench- 
ed— the  public  ships  were  mostly  dismantled  and  laid  up 
in  ordinary — and  even  the  military  academy  at  West  Point, 
the  school  for  educating  artillerists  and  engineers,  felt,  from 
the  diminution  of  appropriations,  decreased  ability  to  impart 
instruction  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  next  administration, 
that,  on  the  earnest  and  active  solicitation  of  the  director, 
Col.  Jonathan  Wifcms,  that  it  was  renewed  and  new-mo- 
delled by  a  special  act  of  Congress.  But  it  was  the  rul- 
ing notion  of  the  day  that  an  economical  system  of  peace 
should  be  preserved,  and  that  an  embargo  and  even  a  non- 
intercourse  should  be  adopted,  rather  than  the  costly  alter- 
native of  war- 

His  temper  was  prone  at  times  to  mirth  and  recreative 
pleasantry.  His  fondness  for  antiquarian  investigation  and 
literary  composition  would  have  been  gratified  by  the  fol- 
lowing legend  alleged  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Greek, 
but  which  came  to  hand  too  late  to  be  transmitted  to  him. 
It  is  now  offered. 


42 
PYTHAGORAS  &  SAPPHO: 

OR, 

THE  DIAMOND  AND  THE  ROSE. 

One  social  day,  'tis  well  expressed, 

Pythagoras  the  Seer 
This  question  artfully  addressed 

To  beauteous  Sappho's  ear  : 

When  hence  thou  shalt  be  forced  to  flee 

By  transmigration's  power, 
Wouldst  thou,  dear  friend,  prefer  to  be 

A  JEWEL  or  a  FLOWER? 

The  Lesbian  maid  these  words  returned 

To  greet  the  Samian  sage  : — 
"  For  gems  my  passion  never  burned ; 
*'  And  flowers  my  choice  engage. 

"  The  glittering  stones,  though  rich  and  rare, 

"  No  animation  know  ; 
«  While  vegetables,  fine  and  fair, 

"  With  vital  action  glow. 

"  The  senseless  gem  no  pleasure  moves 

"  Displayed  in  fashion's  use  : 
v<  While  flowers  enjoy  their  gentle  \  *es, 

"  And  progeny  produce. 

''  Then  when  I  shall  surmount,"  she  cried, 

"  Rude  dissolution's  storm ; 
«*  Oh,  let  me  not  be  petrified, 

rt  But  wear  a  living  form. 

<v  Those  matchless  rays  the  Diamond  shows 

"  With  promptness  I  decline ; 
"  That  I  may  dwell  within  the  Rose, 

u  And  make  its  blossoms  mine." 

But  this  effusion  is  now  nothing  to  him.  He  has  under- 
gone that  change  which  in  time  will  await  us  all.  He  has 
passed  to  another  state  of  being.  What  it  exactly  is,  no 


mortal  seems  to  understand.  It  is  a  subject  that  can  never 
he  contemplated  without  seriousness-  To  pass  from  strength 
to  impotence,  from  life  to  insensibility,  from  health  to  pu- 
trefaction, from  the  mansion  to  the  grave  ;  to  quit  wealth, 
titles,  and  honours  ;  to  close  the  concerns  of  this  anxious 
world  ;  to  bid  farewell  to  them  forever ;  to  pass,  perhaps, 
beyond  the  tomb  to  some  region  we  know  not  where,  and 
to  be  employed  in  some  manner  we  know  not  how  ;  are 
matters  which  engage  and  embarrass  the  inquiring  mind. 
Yet,  puzzling  as  the  theme  of  our  exit  is,  it  is  not  more  so 
than  that  of  our  entrance  upon  the  mundane  theatre.  Who 
can  explain  more  satisfactorily,  how  clustered  atoms  assum- 
ed vitality,  than  how,  after  a  certain  growth  and  develope- 
ment,  they  laid  it  aside  and  became  unvital  again  ?  One  is 
as  natural,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  incomprehensible  as 
the  other.  We  tug  at  the  solution  in  vain.  We  must  wait 
for  regular  initiation  into  these  higher  degrees  of  knowledge  ^ 
we  must  be  patient  until  the  whole  scenery,  of  which  we 
behold  here  but  a  few  sections,  shall,  in  regular  order  and 
due  succession,  be  displayed  before  us. 

In  estimating  the  character  of  our  Jefferson,  he  may  be 
ranked  as  a  highly  favoured  person.  He  lived  in  eventful 
times.  He  saw  the  colonies,  provinces,  and  plantations  of 
his  own  country  (as  they  were  called)  rise  to  independent 
States.  He  viewed  the  stupendous  struggle,  termed  the 
French  revolution,  from  its  commencement  prior  to  the 
overthrow  of  the  Bourbons,  and  under  the  Buonapartean 
dynasty,  to  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  again.  He  be- 
held the  settlements  made  in  America  under  the  crown  of 
Spain  abjure  the  royal  despotism,  and  present  themselves 
to  an  admiring  universe  as  a  brotherhood  of  nations.  He 
witnessed  the  unexampled  march  of  science  and  art  evincing 
the  mighty  and  increasing  power  of  mind  over  matter.  And, 
above  all,  he  surveyed  for  half  a  century  the  advance  arid 
prosperity  of  the  people  to  whose  welfare  he  was  particu- 
larly devoted,  notwithstanding  his  extended  benevolence 
toward  the  entire  family  of  man. 

Considering  how  much  he  has  atchieved  for  the 


44 

and  ibr  those  whom  he  found  it  needful  to  patronize  or  as- 
sist, he  may  be  ranked  among  the  persons  who  are,  as  far 
as  convenient  or  practicable,  the  executors  of  their  own 
wills.  I  have  often  meditated  with  approbation  on  the  con- 
duct, among  others,  of  Mr-  Phillips  of  Boston,  Col.  Rut- 
gers of  New- York,  General  Van  Rerissellaer  of  Albany, 
and  Admiral  Coffin  in  Nantucket,  in  performing  generous 
and  munificent  actions  during  the  continuance  of  their  re- 
spective lives,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  be  done  by  the 
trustees  or  agents  named  in  their  testaments.  There  is  so 
much  prudence  and  propriety  in  the  proceeding,  that  it  is  a 
pity  the  practice  was  not  more  frequent.  Among  other 
considerations,  this  one  is  prominent — that  a  man  is  sure  to 
have  the  good  of  it  before  he  ends  his  mortal  career.  Upon 
the  supposition  that  there  is  no  hereafter,  such  a  man  is  the 
gainer  by  all  the  good  emotions  he  thus  secures  in  the  pre- 
sent life  :  upon  the  calculation  that  there  is  a  future  state, 
it  is  probable,  from  all  that  has  been  revealed  on  the  subject, 
that  the  condition  of  the  resurgent  will  be  infinitely  remote 
from  sublunary  cares,  or  too  much  engaged  to  bestow  a 
look  or  even  a  thought  upon  the  small  concerns  of  this  world. 
Upon  either  way  of  reasoning,  the  argument  is  conclusive 
in  favour  of  procuring  for  ourselves,  while  here,  as  much 
solace  as  possible  by  the  performance  of  good  deeds. 
Under  these  or  the  like  feelings,  Mr.  Jefferson  appears  to 
have  contemplated  his  end  with  a  composure  worthy  of 
those  intrepid  travellers  toward  the  tomb,  Horatio  Gates, 
Joseph  Priestley,  and  Lindley  Murray.  (See  Appendix, 
Notes  H,  I,  &  J.) 

In  fine,  if  virtuous  conduct  gives  cause  for  a  hope,  or 
more,  lays  ground  for  an  expectation  that  heavenly  bliss 
will  be  its  consequence  or  reward,  let  us  indulge  the  senti- 
ment, fanciful  as  some  may  think  it,  that  the  immaterial 
spirit,  quitting  its  connection  with  the  body,  not  weak  and 
clumsy  like  the  chick  disclosed  by  the  egg,  but  perfect  and 
active  as  the  butterfly  bursting  its  crysalis,  shall  wing  its 
course  through  tracts  of  sustaining  and  elemental  ether  to 
the  Paradise  of  God,  and  then  be  nourished,  for  a  duration 
-without  end,  by  the  bread  and  the  water  of  life. 


APPENDIX. 


(NOTE  A.) 

The  altitude  of  Ascutney  Mountain  in  Vermont,  and  Moose-Hil- 
lock in  New-Hampshire,  ascertained  barometrically,  by  AJden 
Partridge,  Esq  Capt.  of  Engineers  stationed  at  Governors-Isl- 
and. Sept.  24th.  1817,  and  addressed  to  Sam.  L  Mitchill. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  take  the  liberty  to  transmit  on  the  opposite  page,  several  altitudes  which 
I  calculated  when  absent  during  vacation  in  the  month  of  August  last.  As- 
cutney is  a  beautiful  insulated,  conical  mountain, situated  in  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont, in  the  towns  of  Windsor  and  Weathersfield— the  summit  about  five 
miles  southwest  from  the  village  of  Windsor,  and  about  the  same  distance 
west  from  Connecticut  river.  Moose-Hillock  is  the  most  elevated  peati  of  a 
long  range  of  mountains,  which  commences  about  three  miles  from  New- 
Haven,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  at  a  rocky  precipice  called  Ea-t-rock. 
From  this  place  the  range  takes  a  northeasterly  direction,  crossing  Connec- 
ticut river,  below  North- Hampton  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  thence  tak- 
ing a  more  northerly  direction,  it  passes  into  the  State  of  New-Hampshire, 
forming  for  a  considerable  distance  the  height  of  land,  between  Connecticut 
river  on  the  west,  and  Merrimack  river  on  the  eajit.  This  range,  I  believe, 
is  joined,  previous  to  crossing  the  New- Hampshire  boundary,  by  another 
range  commencing  near  Lyme  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  called  the 
Lyme  range  of  mountains,  but  which  does  not  attain  any  considerable  ele- 
vation. The  celebrated  White  Mountains  are  a  spur  from  this  range, 
branching  off  to  the  north-ea--t.  Moose-Hillock  is  situated  about  forty-five 
miles,  a  little  to  the  east  of  north,  from  Dartmouth  College,  and  about  fifteen 
miles  east  from  the  village  of  Haverhill,  which  adjoins  Connecticut  river. 
It  is  so  called  in  consequence  of  formerly  having  been  much  frequented  by 
Moose.  The  rocks,  and  also  the  fallen  trees  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains, 
are  covered  with  a  thick  bed  of  moss.  Hard  timber,  such  as  Beech,  Maple, 
and  Birch,  intermixed  with  a  few  Evergreens,  grow  around  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  but  as  we  ascend,  the  Evergreens,  Hemlock,  Spruce,  and  Firs, 
wholly  prevail ;  these,  as  we  approach  the  summit,  dwindle  into  mere  shrubs, 
about  three  feet  in  height.  Their  branches  are  so  interlocked  that  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  get  through  them  ;  the  summit  of  the  north  peak  was 
burned  over  a  few  years  ago,  and  is  now  entirely  bald  ;  a  mere  mass  of  bare 
granite  rocks.  A  silver  mine  is  reported  to  have  been  discovered  many  years 
ago  by  some  hunters,  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  The  position  of  this  re- 


46  .   ' 

ported  mine,  however,  is  not  now  known,  though  much  vain  search  has  beeu 
made  to  ascertain  it. 

In  haste,  with  the  greatest  respect, 
yours,  sincerely, 

A.  PARTRIDGE. 
HON.  SAM.  L.  MITCHILL. 

Feet. 

Altitude  of  Ascutney  Mountain  above  the  Sea,  3320 

Altitude  of  the  same,  above  Connecticut  river  at  Windsor  Bridge,  2903 

Altitude  of  the  same,  above  the  house  of  Mr.  Giles  Gills,  near  the  foot 

of  the  mountain,  2595 

Elevation  of  Connecticut  river,  at  Windsor  Bridge  above  tide  water,        417 
Altitude  of  the  south  peak  of  the  Moose-Hillock  above  the  Sea,  4556 

Altitude  of  the  same,  above  the  house  of  Mr.  Eastmans,  in  the  town 

of  Coventry  near  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  3246 

Altitude  of  the  same,  above  Connecticut  river  at  Orford  Bridge,  4032 

Altitude  of  the  same,  above  Merrill's  tavern,  in  the  town  of  Warren, 

near  Baker's  river,  3816 

Altitude  of  Connecticut  river  at  Orford  Bridge,  above  tide  water,  504 

Altitude  of  Fairlee  Mountain,  near  the   Meeting-House  in  Fairlee, 

above  Connecticut  river,  at  Orford  Bridge,  547 

Altitude  of  the  same  above  the  Sea,  1051 

JVo/e.  The  north  peak  of  Moose-Hillock  is  rather  higher  than  the  south 
peak.  At  the  time  I  was  on  the  south  peak  the  weather  was  so  extremely 
thick  and  inclement  as  to  prevent  my  passing  to  the  north  peak.  From  my 
own  observations,  however,  and  from  the  best  information  I  could  obtain,  I 
think  the  difference  between  the  two  peaks  does  not  exceed  one  hundred 
feet.  I  presume,  therefore,  that  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-six 
feet  may  be  taken  for  the  altitude  of  the  north  peak,  without  essential  error  ; 
this  is,  undoubtedly,  the  highest  mountain  (except  the  White  Mountains)  in 
the  northera  States,  if  not  on  this  side  the  Mississippi.  The  prospect  from 
the  top  of  Ascutney  is  very  fine.  I  have  witnessed  more  extensive  ones,  but 
never  a  more  beautiful  one  ;  the  foregoing  altitudes  were  calculated  from 
barometrical,  and  thermometrical  observations  in  the  month  of  August, 
1817. 

A.  PARTRIDGE,  Capt.  of  Eng. 


Summary  of  all  the  memorable  Eminences  within  View  of  Hudson 
River,  arranged  in  the  Order  in  which  they  present  themselves 
to  an  Observer  entering  the  Bay  of  New-York  at  Sandy  Hook+ 
and  passing  by  Water  to  Albany. 

Altitude  of  Mount  Mitchill,  the  highest  of  the  Neversink,  282 

Do.  of  Tompkins'  Hill,  on  Staten-Island,  307 

Do.  of  Hempstead  Hill,  on  Long-Island,  31  P 


47 

Altitude  of  the  Craggy  Cliff,  near  Weehawk  Ferry,  175 

Do.  of  Fort  Lee,  311 

Do.  of  Fort  Constitution,  near  Fort  Lee,  301 

Do.  of  Lydecker's  Bluff,  a  little  below  Spiten  Devil,  378 

Do.  of  the  Bluff  opposite  Spiten  Devil,  407 

Do.  of  the  Bluff  a  little  above  Spiten  Devil,  479 
Do.  of  Bompey's  Hook,  two  miles  above  Closter  Dock,                        .       517 

Do.  of  the  high  Bluff  north  of  Bompey's  Hook,  549 
Do.  of  Closter  Mountain,  a  little  south  of  the  territorial  line  between 

New- York  and  New-Jersey,  at  lat.  41.  539 
Do.  of  the  South  Peak  of  the  Hook  Mountain,  immediately  north  of 

Nyack,  668 

Do.  of  the  North  Peak  of  the  same,  640 

Do.  of  the  South  Peak  of  the  high  Bluff,  near  Hayerstraw,        .  698 

Do.  of  the  North  Peak  of  the  same,  852 

Do.  of  the  Torn  Mountain,  above  Pierson's  Manufactory,  768 

Do.  of  the  same  above  tide-water,  1067 

Do.  of  Pierson's  above  tide- water,  299 

Do.  of  Fort  Washington,  on  York-Island,  238 

Do.  of  Fort  Tryon,  a  little  north  of  Fort  Washington,  229 

Highlands  between  Peekskill  and  Newburgh. 

Altitude  of  Antony's  Nose,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  935 

Do.  of  the  Sugar  Loaf,  on  the  east  side,  866 

Do.  of  Bare  Mountain,  on  the  west  side,  1350 

Do.  of  Fort  Putnam,  on  the  west  side,  598 

.Do.  of  West  Point  Plain,  on  the  west  side,  188 

Do.  of  the  Crow's  Nest,  on  the  west  side,  1418 

Do.  of  Bull  Hill,  on  the  east  side,  1486 

Do.  of  Break-Neck  Hill,  on  the  east  side,  1187 

Do.  of  Butter  Hill,  on  the  west  side,  1529 

Do.  of  New  Beacon,  on  the  east  side,  1585 

Do.  of  the  Old  Beacon,  on  the  east  side,  1471 

Catskill  Range. 

Altitude  of  the  Round  Top,  above  tide-water,  3804 

Do.  of  the  same  above  the  base  of  the  range,  3105 

Do.  of  the  High  Peak,  above  tide-water,  3718 

Do.  of  the  same  above  the  base  of  the  range,  3019 

Do.  of  the  base  of  the  range,  above  tide-water,  699 
I  remain  yours,  with  the  greatest  respect, 

A.  PARTRIDGE. 


(NOTE  B.) 

Experiments  made  by  the  Assay -Master  of  the  King  of  the  Nether- 
lands* at  the  mint  of  Utrecht,  on  the  native  copper  existing  in 
huge  blocks,  on  the  South  side  of  Lake  Superior,  in  a  letter  from 


48 

his  Excellency  William  Eusiis,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and 
Envoy  Extraordinary  from  the  United  States,  $*c.  to  Samuel 
L.  Mitchill,  dated  Hague,  Oct.  12,  1817. 

Dear  Sir, 

Perceiving  by  the  public  newspapers,  that  my  friend  Dr.  Le  Baron  had 
presented  you  a  piece  of  copper,  I  inclose  you  the  analysis  of  a  piece,  which 
he  gave  me,  at  the  mint  of  Utrecht,  a  portion  of  which,  in  its  crude  state,  1 
presented  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  to  be  deposited  in  the  University 
of  Ley  den.  My  object  in  procuring  an  assay  in  a  foreign  country,  was  first 
to  add  to  the  diffusion  of  information  respecting  our  country,  and  secondly 
that  it  might  be  compared  with  experiments  made  in  the  United  States.  I 
had  hoped  to  return  this  autumn,  and  to  have  taken  it  with  me,  but  the  state 
of  our  commercial  relations  with  this  country  has  necessarily  deferred  that 
hope  until  the  spring.  If  Dr.  Le  Baron  is  near  you,  I  will  thank  you  to 
present  me  to  him  ;  with  great  respect  and  esteem, 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

W.  EUSTIS. 

The  HON.  SAMUEI  L.  MITCHILL. 
New-York. 


The  report  from  the  mint,  is  in  these  words  : 

From  every  appearance  the  piece  of  copper  seems  to  have  been  taken  from 
a  mass  that  has  undergone  fusion.  The  melting  was,  however,  not  an  opera- 
tion of  art,  but  a  natural  effect  caused  by  a  volcanic  eruption. 

The  stream  of  lava  probably  carried  along  in  its  course  the  aforesaid  body 
of  copper  that  had  formed  into  one  collection,  as  fast  as  it  was  heated  enough 
to  run,  from  all  parts  of  the  mine.  The  united  mass  was  probably  borne,  in 
this  manner,  to  the  place  where  it  now  rests  in  the  soil. 

The  crystal >zed  form,  observable  every  where  on  the  original  surface  of 
the  metal  that  has  been  left  untouched  or  undisturbed,  leads  me  to  presume 
that  the  fusion  it  has  sustained  was  by  a  proces*  of  nature  ;  since  this  crys- 
tallized surface  can  only  be  supposed  to  have  been  produced  by  a  slow  and 
gradual  cooling,  whereby  the  copper  assumed  regular  figures  as  its  heat  pass- 
ed into  other  substances  and  the  metal  itself  lay  exposed  to  the  air. 

As  to  the  properties  of  the  copper  itself,  it  may  be  observed  that  its  colour 
is  a  clear  red ;  that  it  is  peculiarly  qualified  for  rolling  and  forging ;  and  that 
its  excellence  is  indicated  by  its  resemblance  to  the  copper  usually  employed 
by  the  ENGLISH  for  plating. 

The  dealers  in  copper  call  this  sort  Peruvian  copper,  to  distinguish  it  from 
that  of  Sweden,  which  is  much  less  malleable.  The  specimen,  under  consi- 
deration, is  incomparably  better  than  Swedish  copper,  as  well  on  account  of 
its  brilliant  colour,  as  for  the  fineness  of  its  pores,  and  its  extreme  ductility. 

Notwithstanding,  before  it  is  used  in  manufactures,  or  for  the  coining  of 


money,  it  ought  to  be  melted  anew,  Cor  the  purpose  ot"  purifying  it  from  such 
earthy  particles  which  it  may  contain. 

The  examination  of  the  North  American  copper^  in  the  sample  received 
from  hu  excellency  the  minister,  by  the  operations  of  the  cupel  and  the  test 
by  fire,  has  proved  that  it  does  not  contain  the  smallest  particle  of  silver,  goldi 
or  any  other  metal. 


(NOTE  C.) 

A  Letter  from  ROBERT  R.  LIVINGSTON,  Minister  Plenipotentiary 
from  the  United  States  to  France,  detailing  the  proceedings  in 
the  Negociation  for  Louisiana,  dated  Paris,  13th  July,  1803.  and 
written  to  Samuel  L.  Mitchill,  a  Representative  in  Congress 
from  the  State  of  New- York. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  for  some  time  past  been  so  much  occupied  by  measures  that  have 
eventuated  in  the  completion  of  our  treaty  for  Louisiana,  and  the  subsequent 
organization  of  a  Board  for  settlement  of  our  debts,  that  I  have  not  had  the 
leisure  to  reply  to  your  favor  of  7th  February. 

I  had  long  foreseen  that  the  possession  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
to  which  alone  the  views  of  our  Government  extended,  would  be  insufficient 
to  insure  our  tranquillity,  if  an  active,  powerful,  and  enlightened  people,  oc- 
cupied the  west  bank,  particularly  that  beautiful  country  that  lies  above 
the  river  Arkansa,  opposite  to  our  western  establishments. 

I  therefore  (though  without  powers)  first  endeavoured  to  satisfy  the  people 
in  power  here  that  the  establishments  would  be  of  no  use  to  them :  that 
if  they  possessed  Louisiana,  it  was  proper  to  give  us  all  the  country  above 
the  Arkansas,  in  order  to  interpose  us  between  them  and  Canada.  I  got  my 
reflections  on  this  subject  submitted  to  the  First  Consul,  through  his  brother  ; 
and  notwithstanding  his  violent  attachment  to  it,  procured  an  assurance  from 
him  that  some  arrangement  should  be  made  satisfactory  to  us  on  this  subject ; 
and  that  it  should  be  done  in  America  by  General  Bernadotte.  In  March  1 
ventured  upon  what  was  here  considered  as  a  bold  and  hazardous  measure — > 
a  direct  and  forcible  address  to  him  personally  on  the  subject  of  our  claims — 
upon  which,  having  received  from  him  ^positive  assurance  that  they  should  be 
fully  and  promptly  paid,  I  began  to  look  forward  to  this  as  a  mean  of  accom- 
plishing my  other  object,  because  I  was  sure  he  could  not  go  back  fromliis 
personal  promise  ;  nor,  in  case  of  a  war,  which  began  to  be  probable,  would 
he  find  any  other  means  of  discharging  it.  The  spirited  conduct  of  our  na- 
tion in  the  affair  of  New  Orleans  was  also  of  use,  and  so  strongly  pressed  by 
me  that  the  Minister  called  upon  me  for  some  proposition  relative  to  that 
country.  Though  I  was  wholly  without  powers,  I  ventured  on  the  14th  of 
March,  to  make  them  explicitly  for  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  all  above 
the  Arkansas  on  the  west ;  and  I  received  a  verbal  assurance  a  few  davs  af- 

G 


50 

lei-,  that  the  next  day  should  bring  me  a  full  and  satisfactory  answer;  and  { 
doubt  not  that  such  was  prepared  ;  when,  unfortunately,  letters  from  Pichon 
were  received,  "and  that  all  was  quiet."    This  determined  them  to  wait  to 
see  whether  the  war  would  pass  over,  and  whether  a  better  bargain  could 
not  be  made.     But  as  I  continued  to  press  the  execution  of  their  promise  for 
the  debt,  and  an  explicit  recognition  of  our  right  of  dep6t,  the  First  Consul 
announced  to  council  on  the  8th  (four  days  before  Mr.  Monroe  arrived  here) 
his  determination  to  sell  the  country  to  us.     The  next  day  the  minister  call- 
ed upon  me  for  a  specific  proposition.  The  day  after  (the  business  being  put 
into  Mr.  Marbcis's  hands  for  reasons  that  I  cannot  venture  to  explain,  but  as 
they  afterwards  said  in  compliment  to  me,  as  my  friend,)  the  minister  alarm- 
ed me  by  pretending  that  he  had  no  particular  authority  to  speak  to  me  on 
the  subject,  but  again  called  on  me  to  say  what  I  would  give.  As  I  had  heard 
of  Mr.  Monroe's  arrival  at  Havre  1  refused  to  act  till   he  arrived,  but  asked 
why  they  wished  me  to  propose  for  the  whole  of  Louisiana  when  I  had  only 
asked  the  east  side  of  the  river  and  a  portion  on  the  west  ?    He  told  me  that 
F  had  asked  all  that  was  worth  having,  and  therefore  must  take  the  whole  ; 
to  which  I  told  him  I  had  no  objection,  but  would  now  wait  till  Mr.  Monroe 
came  up.     On  the  evening  of  the  12th  Mr.  Monroe  arrived.     On  the  13th, 
while  at  dinner  with  me,  I  saw  Mr.  Marbois  walking  in  rny  garden ;  I  sent  to 
ask  him  in,  he  said  he  would  return  in  the  evening;  when  he  came  he  ap- 
peared surprised  to  see  Mr.  Monroe,  not  having,  as  he  said,  heard  of  his  arri- 
val ;  but  after  a  short  visit,  as  there  was  much  company  at  my  house,  he  beg- 
ged that  I  would  come  to  the  treasury  that  evening  at  eleven.  I  went  accord- 
ingly ;  when  we  formally  discussed  the  whole  business  of  the  cession,  which  I 
told  him  I  would  communicate  to  MY.  Monroe,   and  he  promised  to  get  full 
powers.     We  were  together  till  past  two.     The  next  day  I  presented  Mr. 
Monroe  to  the  minister,  who  received  him  politely,  but  said  nothing  of  busi- 
ness. The  great  point  having  been  got  over,  the  difficulty  of  bringing  the  Con- 
sul to  sell,  our  subsequent  discussion  related  only  to  the  price  and  matters  of 
form,  so  that  if  Mr.  Munroe  had  not  been  taken  ill  and  confined  to  his  bed  for 
ten  or  twelve  days,  having  been  taken  the  fourth  day  after  his  arrival,  we 
should  have  agreed  probably  on  or  before  the  20th  of  April.     It  is  impossible 
to  tell  you,  my  friend,  the  difficulties  I  have  had  to  encounter  in  this  negocia- 
tion  and  my  alternate  hopes  and  fears  even  after  they  had  determined  to  sell, 
and  called  upon  me  for  a  proposition  ;  and  even  after  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Mun- 
roe at  Havre,  there  was  a  moment  in  which  I  doubted  Mr.  Tallerand's  since- 
rity, particularly  when  on  the  10th  he  told  me  that  his  proposition  was  un- 
authorized. I  sincerely  wished  at  that  instant  that  Mr.  Monroe  had  brought 
with  him  an  assurance  that  New  Orleans  was  in  our  possession.  This  would 
not  have  injured  us ;  but  as  things  have  turned  out,  it  is  better  as  it  is.  I  have 
been  very  happy  iu  the  perfect  accordance  of  sentiments  between  Mr.  Mon- 
roe and  myself  in  every  measure  that  regarded  the  treaty,  and  in  steps  that 
1  had  taken  to  pave  the  way  for  its  execution  previous  to  his  arrival.     After 
that  event,  nothing  was  left  but  some  commercial  arrangements  and  the  price ; 
in  which  we  met  with  much  candour  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Marbois.     1  trust 
that  it  may  be  found  acceptable  to  our  country.    Here  it  is  considered  as  a 
most  important  acquisition,  and  has  procured  for  me  the  congratulations  o* 


51 

'all  the  corps  diplomatique  who  knew  the  difficulties  I  had  to  encounter  ou 
my  arrival,  and  who  are  warmly  and  vainly  soliciting  the  payment  of  their 
claims,  and  that  we  have  got  so  happily  satisfied.  I  have  given  you  this  de- 
tailed account,  because  I  consider  this  as  one  of  ths  most  important  treaties 
made  by  ourcountry ;  and  it  may  be  interesting  to  you,  as  a  Statesman,  to  know 
the  steps  by  which  it  was  accomplished. 

I  meant  to  have  treated  with  you  on  some  interesting  philosophical 
and  agricultural  subjects,  but  politics  have  occupied  too  much  of  this  to  let 
me  touch  upon  any  other.  Mr.  Monroe  yesterday  went  to  England  as  resi- 
dent minister.  I  have  some  thoughts,  as  all  the  court  is  absent  now,  to  make 
that  interesting  kingdom  a  visit  also  ;  but  am  not  sure  whether  I  shall  effect 
it.  Nothing  is  more  united  and  enthusiastic  than  this  nation  in  war  mea- 
sures,though  nothing  would  have  been  originally  more  averse  to  war ;  but  they 
consider  it  as  totally  unprovoked  on  the  part  of  Britain,  and  are  resolved  to 
avenge  it.  Almost  every  community  have  imposed  voluntary  taxes  upon 
themselves  to  defray  the  expence  of  ships,  boat?,  &c. 

We  have  had  a  very  gay  4th  of  July  ;  I  had  60  of  my  countrymen  at  din- 
ner, and  a  ball  and  supper  for  my  fair  country-women,  of  which  there  are  ma- 
ny here  by  birth,  marriage,  or  adoption. 

Adieu  my  dear  Sir ,  shew  this  to  Mr.  Clinton  and  present  him  my  compli- 
ments, and  tell  him  that  he  has  been  for  some   time  my  debtor  for  a  letter 
I  am,  with  the  highest  esteem,  dear  Sir, 

Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

ROBERT  R.  LIVINGSTON*. 
SAMUEL  L.  MITCHILL,  ESQ. 

[The  British  will  probably  take  some  merit  with  us  for  our  treaty,  but 
have  aot  the  least  claim  to  it.  Lord  Whitworth  assured  me,  a  few  days  before 
he  left  this,  that  Louisiana  had  never  been  an  object  of  discussion  between 
him  and  the  French  Government ;  this  appears  by  the  papers  laid  before  par- 
liament, and  Lord  North,  upon  announcing  our  treaty,  declares  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  it  till  it  was  communicated  officially  (by  our  directions)  by 
Mr.  King,  who  himself  knew  nothing  of  it  till  concluded.] 


(NOTE  D.) 

Description  of  a  Fossil  Elephant,  discovered  in  Wythe  Coun- 
ty, southwest  of  the  River  Ihanhawa,  in  Virginia,  written 
by  Dr.  John  Stranger,  to  lieut.  Wra.  L.  Brownlow,  of  the 
U.  S.  Marine  Corps,  stationed  at  New-York,  dated  Wythe 
County,  March  10,  1818. 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  letter  has  been  received  some  weeks  ago,  after  my  return  from 
North-Carolina,  which  should  have  been  answered  before  this  time,  had  I 
not  been  at  a  loss  to  know  what  particular  information  Dr.  Mitchill  wishes 


With  regard  to  the  teeth  and  bones  found  on  Mr.  Kinsa's  land.  However 
that  you  may  not  think  your  friendly  application  to  me  disregarded,  I  will 
now  comply  with  your  request,  as  well  as  1  can.  The  place  where  the  dis- 
covery was  made,  is  a  small  marshy  piece  of  ground,  not  more  than  40  feet 
square,  in  a  field  which  has  been  for  more  than  20  years  in  cultivation,  and 
has  previous  to  that  time,  as  I  am  informed,  been  used  as  a  lick  by  horses  and 
cattle,  a  small  spring  of  mineral  taste  oozes  from  the  spot.  The  owner  of  the 
field  observed  repeatedly  in  the  summer  season,  in  dry  weather,  after  a  re- 
freshing shower,  that  the  place  was  covered  with  a  white  substance  like  salt. 
Under  this  impression  he  began  to  dig  in  search  of  salt  water.  The  ground 
being  opened  a  few  feet  in  depth,  he  found  a  few  uncommon  teeth  and  small 
round  bones,  about  4  inches  long  and  about  l£  inches  in  diameter,  solid  and 
pomewhat  larger  in  circumference  at  each  end,  like  joints  of  a  tail,  or  toe. 
The  news  of  this  discovery  induced  several  persons  to  visit  the  spot  :  I  also 
went,  and  being  desirous  to  make  a  farther  search,  I  obtained  permission  to 
make  a  larger  opening,  say  12  feet  square,  and  found  a  number  of  still  larger 
teeth  and  bones,  belonging,  in  my  opinion,  to  two  different  species  of  animals, 
larger  than  any  we  now  have  within  our  States.  The  bones  were  so  much 
decayed,  that  they  would  generally  fall  to  pieces,  when  exposed  to  the  air  ; 
the  teeth  I  preserved,  and  sometime  afterwards  put  them  in  the  possession  of 
Dr.  John  Floyd,  (a  member  from  Virginia  in  the  present  congress)  residing 
in  Montgomery  county,  who  probably,  sent  them  to  some  Museum.  The 
poil  was  so  strongly  impregnated  with  the  mineral,  that  it  tasted  like  copperas 
itself.  The  position  in  which  the  teeth  and  bones  were  found  was  some- 
what remarkable.  The  large  teeth,  two  of  which  weighed  161b.  each,  and 
several  more  of  less  weight  and  size,  were  deposited  in  a  manner  by  them- 
selves, and  deeper  in  the  ground,  according  to  their  gravity  ;  round  about 
these,  some  little  distance  off,  were  the  teeth  and  bones  of  the  lesser  animals, 
placed  in  a  semicircle  ;  of  the  latter  1  found  sereral  jaw-bones  with  their 
teeth  sticking  fast ;  and  in  one  upper-jaw  I  found  besides  a  tusk,  about  20 
inches  long,  shaped  like  a  cow's  horn,  round,  crooked,  tapering  off  to  a  point, 
hollow  at  the  base,  and  pointing  forward  towards  the  nose,  also  a  couple  of 
ribs  and  shoulder  blades.  The  smaller  animals  I  judged  to  have  been  of  the 
carnivorous,  from  the  shape  of  their  teeth,  which  had  a  double  row  of  high 
conic  processes,  three  to  each  row,  between  3  and  4  inches  from  the  bottom 
of  the  root  to  the  top  of  the  tooth,  and  each  was  about  3  inches  loag.  All 
the  teeth  of  the  large  animal  (1  found  no  bones  of  this  animal)  were  flat,  and 
ribbed  transversely.  This  remarkable  position  of  the  different  bones  arid 
teeth,  made  me  suppose,  that  the  large  animal  had  died  in  a  conflict  with  the 
smaller  ones.  Or  why  should  I  have  found  several  sets  of  teeth  and  bones  of 
the  one  kind,  and  all  in  that  semicircle,  and  but  one  set  of  teeth  of  the  large 
animal  opposite  to  them.  None  of  these  teeth  were  deeper  than  about  6  feet 
in  the  ground,  when  a  flat  limestone  rock  commenced,  which  rock  must  have 
been  once  nearer  to  the  surface,  for  I  found  pine-knots,  and  pieces  of  rotten 
wood  within  two  feet  above  it.  This,  sir,  is  all  the  information  I  can  think 
nf ;  should  Dr.  Mitchill  be  desirous  to  know  any  other  circumstance  relative 
to  this  affair,  I  will  cheerfully  give  it,  if  in  my  power. 

I  am,  Sir.  respectfully,  Your  humble  servant, 

JOHN  STRANGER. 


(NOTEE.) 

Jt  Description  of  the  Hot  Springs ,  near  the  river  Washitaw,  and  of 
{he  Physical  Geography  of  (he  adjacent  country  ;  in  a  Communi- 
tionfrom  Major  S.  H.  Long,  of  the  U.  S.  corps  of  Engineers,  to 
Samuel  L.  Mitchill,  dated  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  February  f3, 
1818.  (Read  before  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  at  A«r- 
York,  20th  April,  1818.) 

J\fy  Dear  Sir, 

1  take  the  liberty  of  communicating;  upon  a  subject  which  you  will  no  doubt 
consider  somewhat  interesting,  not  only  because  it  relates  to  a  curiosity  of  the 
first  magnitude,  but  because  it  is  connected  also  with  a  profession  which  is 
greatly  indebted  to  yourself,  for  its  respectability  and  advancement  in  this 
country.  The  subject  alluded  to,  is  the  Hot  Springs  of  the  Washitaw, 
which  I  visited  on  the  first  day  of  January  last,  on  my  return  from  Red  river. 
Together  with  an  unvarnished  description  of  the  Springs,  I  hereafter  present 
you  a  rude  sketch  of  the  adjacent  country,  which  will  enable  you  to  form 
some  idea  of  their  locality. 

These  remarkable  springs  are  situated  in  N.  lat.  34Q  14'  7",  upon  a  small 
creek  of  the  Washitaw,  bearing  their  name,  and  uniting  with  that  river  at 
the  distance  of  12  or  14  miles  from  the  springs.  The  country  in  which  they 
are  situated  is  extremely  hilly  and  broken,  the  highlands  being  divided  into 
numerous  ridges  and  knobs  by  creeks,  runs,  &c.  The  rocky  formations,  in 
this  neighbourhood,  are  both  various  and  interesting,  exhibiting  various  or- 
ders of  concretion,  from  the  softest  slate  to  the  hardest  flint.  On  the  Washi- 
taw, slate  of  an  excellent  quality  for  tiling  is  found  in  abundance.  Near  the 
springs  1  observed  several  varieties  of  this  formation,  one  of  which  appeared 
well  adapted  for  writing  slates,  and  a  second,  sufficiently  hard  and  fissile  for 
tiles.  On  Hot  Spring  creek,  and  several  other  water  courses  in  its  vicinity, 
are  extensive  quarries  of  stone,  resembling,  in  colour  and  texture,  the  Tur- 
key oil  stone,  which,  by  numerous  experiments,  has  been  proved  equally  as 
useful  in  sharpening  tools,  &c.  On  the  hills,  tiff  and  other  mineral  sines 
abound.  The  stones  in  many  places  are  strongly  impregnated  with  iron,  and 
rich  ore  of  this  metal  is  frequently  to  be  met  with.  Upon  the  hill  from  which 
the  Hot  Springs  issue,  the  rocky  formations  are  different  in  many  icspecls 
from  any  I  have  observed  upon  the  other  hills.  By  the  operation  of  heat,  as 
also  of  the  water  which  holds  in  solution  a  large  portion  of  the  carbonate  of 
lime,  no  where  else  to  be  seen  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground,  various  chan- 
ges have  been  wrought  upon  them.  In  some  instances  the  works  are  so  in- 
crusted  with  calcarious  concretions,  that  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  their  ori- 
ginal character  without  a  minute  examination.  In  others,  pebbles  and  stones 
of  various  forms  and  complexions,  are  so  strongly  cemented  together  with 
iron  and  calx  combined,  as  to  constitute  large  masses  of  compact  and  solid 
stone.  The  rocks  and  stones  generally  upon  the  hills,  are  extremely  ragged 
and  favillous,  vast  bodies  of  them,  in  many  instances,  having  the  appearance 


01'  being  composed  entirely  of  the  calcarious  matter  once  held  in  solution  by 
the  hot  water  of  the  springs.  In  regard  to  the  natural  growth,  I  observed 
nothing  peculiar  to  the  hill  whence  the  springs  flow,  that  was  not  common 
also  to  the  other  neighbouring  heights.  The  high  lands  generally,  in  this 
quarter,  are  covered  with  forests  of  yellow  or  pitch  pine,  and  support  an  exu- 
berant growth  of  vines,  furze,  bramble,  &c. 

The  course  of  the  creek  in  passing  the  springs,  is  nearly  south.  The  quan- 
tity of  water  running  in  it,  is,  at  this  time,  (Jan.  1,)  about  one  thousand  gal- 
lons per  minute  Hot  Spring  hill,  or  mountain,  (as  it  is  more  frequently 
called,)  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  and  is  about  550  feet  high. 
The  extent  of  its  base  along  the  creek  is  about  six  hundred  yards.  The  hill 
is  of  a  conical  form,  and  has  a  base  not  exceeding  l£  miles  in  diameter.  It 
is  completely  insulated  from  the  other  hills  by  which  it  is  environed,  by 
creeks,  brooks,  and  ravines.  Directly  north  of  it,  on  the  same  side  of  the 
creek,  is  another  hill  somewhat  higher,  separated  from  the  former  by  u  small 
brook.  On  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  directly  opposite  to  Spring  hill,  is  a 
third,  considerably  higher  than  either  of  the  last  mentioned,  and  situated  a 
little  distance  from  the  creek,  leaving  an  area  of  considerable  extent  between 
its  base  and  the  creek,  upon  which  cabins  are  built  for  the  accommodation  of 
those  who  visit  the  springs. 

There  are  said  to  be  sixty  different  springs  or  fountains  of  hot  water,  occu- 
pying a  distance  of  about  four  hundred  yards  along  the  east  side  of  the  creek. 
On  the  west  side  there  is  but  one,  situated  immediately  upon  the  shore,  and 
discharging  but  a  moderate  quantity  of  water  :  while  on  the  other  side,  they 
are  variously  situated,  some  of  them  near  the  edge  of  the  creek,  upon  the 
same  level,  and  others  on  different  parts  of  the  declivity,  elevated  from  10  to 
150  feet  above  the  water  level,  and  discharging  from  one  to  fifteen  or  twenty 
gallons  each,  per  minute.  Immediately  in  the  vicinity  of  some  of  the  hot 
springs,  are  fountains  of  cold  water,  in  some  instances  gushing  out  of  the 
ground  within  a  very  few  feet  of  the  Hot  Spring. 

There  have  been  14  or  15  rude  cabins  constructed  along  the  creek,  by  per- 
sons who  resort  hither,  occasionally,  for  the  benefit  of  the  springs.  They  are 
situated  mostly  on  the  west  side,  and  are  calculated  merely  for  a  summer  re- 
sidence, very  few  of  them  having  chimneys.  At  present  none  of  them  are 
occupied,  except  one,  in  which  a  family  took  a  temporary  residence  a  few 
days  since.  There  are  no  settlements  yet  made  nearer  than  the  Washitaw, 
where  there  are  three  at  the  distance  of  about  eight  miles  from  the  spring?. 
From  these  settlements,  residents  at  the  springs  obtain  provisions  by  paying 
a  high  price  ;  but,  to  the  credit  and  generosity  of  the  settlers,  it  may  be  said, 
that  they  are  equally  as  ready  to  supply  the  poor,  as  the  rich,  although  they 
run  the  risk  of  never  receiving  payment  for  their  produce.  There  have  been 
instances  where  they  have  refused  to  take  double  their  selling  price  for  their 
corn,  but  have  chosen  rather  to  divide  it  between  (he  poor  and  rich,  not  ac- 
cording to  their  ability  to  pay,  but  in  proportion  to  the  necessities  of  the  pur- 
chasers, and  the  quantity  of  provisions  absolutely  required  for  their  subsis- 
tence. 

During  my  delay  at  the  springs,  I  made  the  following  observations  relative 


55 

to  their  respective  temperatures,  &c.  commencing  in  the  creek  immediately 
below  the  springs,  and  passing  up  along  its  eastern  shore  as  far  as  they  extend. 
The  numbers  annexed  to  the  springs  are  merely  accidental,  indicating  the 
order  in  which  I  examined  them. 

Temperature  of  the  creek  below  the  springs,  64  deg.  Fahrenheit,  probable 
discharge,  1100  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  1,  being  the  lowermost  on  the  creek,  122  deg. 
probable  discharge  per  minute,  4  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No  2,  a  few  feet  from  No.  1,  104  deg.  probable 
discharge  per  minute,  1  gallon. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  3,  about  25  yards  above  the  last,  126  deg.  pro- 
bable discharge  per  minute,  2  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  4,  after  uniting  with  a  spring  of  cold  water,  124 
deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  2  gallons. 

Temperature  of  springs  No.  5,  6,  and  7,  rising  very  near  each  other,  the 
hottest  most  elevated,  126,  94,  and  92  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  8 
gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  8,  elevation  50  feet,  after  mingling  with  a  cold 
spring,  128  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  10  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  9,  elevated  60  feet  above  the  water  level,  132 
deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  2  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  10,  elevated  40  feet,  bushes  growing  in  the  wa- 
ter's edge, 151  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  5  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  11,  issuing  near  the  margin  of  the  creek,  elevat- 
ed 3  feet,  148  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  14  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  12,  20  yards  from  the  last,  ha  vingasweat  house 
upon  it,  132  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  20  gallons. 

Temperature  of  springs  Nos.  13, 14,  and  15,  all  excavations  for  baths,  situ- 
ated just  above  No.  12  ;  124, 119,  108  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  6 
gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  No.  16,  an  excavation  also,  near  the  last,  122  deg. 
probable  discharge  per  minute,  2  gallons. 

Temperature  of  spring  Nc£?  17,  uppermost  on  the  creek,  and  has  a  sweat 
house  and  bath,  126  deg.  probable  discharge  per  minute,  5  gallons. 

Temperature  of  springs  Nos.  18,  19,  20,  21,  and  22,  all  rising  near  together 
on  the  level  area,  126,  128,  130,  136,  and  140  deg.  probable  discharge  per 
minute,  9  gallons. 

The  last  mentioned  cluster  is  situated  upon  a  prominent  part  of  the  hill, 
elevated  at  least  one  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  creek.  In  the  same 
area  are  several  others, — and  what  is  particulary  remarkable,  several  springs 
of  cold  water  rise  in  the  same  plat,  one  of  them  within  a  very  few  feet  of  the 
hottest  spring.  In  some  of  these  springs,  I  observed  bubbles  rising  in  rapid 
succession,  but  could  not  discover  any  remarkable  scent  emitted  from  them. 

Temperature  of  the  creek  immediately  above  the  springs,  46  deg.  probable 
discharge  per  miuute,  1000  gallons. 

Besides  the  springs  enumerated  above,  there  are  many  others  situated  on 
the  same  side  of  the  hill,  at  different  elevations  above  the  water  level. 


56 

The  heat  of  the  water  in  the  summer  season,  is  said  to  be  much  greater 
than  at  present,  and  the  discharge  somewhat  less.  The  water  is  then  hot 
enough  to  draw  tea  or  coffee,  cook  eggs,  and  even  meat.  In  the  hottest  of 
the  springs,  I  observed  bushes  growing,  as  also  an  abundance  of  beautiful 
moss  of  a  deep  green  colour,  and  of  a  vegetating  appearance ; — and  what  is 
still  more  wonderful,  a  kind  of  water  insect,  something  longer  than  the  wood 
louse,  but  resembling  it  in  shape,  lives  and  sports  in  the  heated  element. 

There  is  a  spring  of  cold  water  about  3  miles  from  the  hot  springs,  in  a 
north-easterly  direction,  which  has  obtained  some  notoriety  from  the  cir- 
cumstance of  its  having  occasioned  the  death  of  a  man  who  had  heated  him- 
self in  pursuing  a  bear,  and  drank  too  freely  of  its  water,  and  has  therefore 
obtained  the  nama  of  the  Poison  Spring.  From  the  description  given  me  of 
this  spring,  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  a  chalybeate,  pretty  strongly  impreg- 
nated,— and  containing,  possibly,  some  arsenic.  Its  waters  deposit  an  abun- 
dance of  ocreous  earth,  adhering  to  the  stones  in  the  bottom  and  sides  of  the 
channel  through  which  they  flow. 

Believe  me,  dear  Sir,  with  sincere  regard,  your  most  obliged,  humble  ser- 
vant, 

S.  H.  LONG. 


(NOTE  F.) 

Extract  from  the  report  made  by  Dr.  Mitchill,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  for  Commerce  and  Manufactories,  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  February  18,  1804,  on  the  boundaries  of 
Louisiana,  &c. 

"  By  a  series  of  memorable  events,  the  United  States  have  lately  acquired 
"  a  large  additional  soil  and  jurisdiction.  This  is  believed,  besides  the  tracts 
"  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  to  include  all  the  country  which  lies  to 
"  the  westward  between  that  river  and  the  great  chaiu  of  mountains  that 
t{  stretch  from  north  to  south,  and  divide  the  waters  running  into  the  Atlan- 
"  tic  from  those  which  empty  into  the  Pacific  ocean;  and  beyond  that  chain, 
"  between  the  territories  claimed  by  Great  Britain  on  the  one  side  and  by 
"  Spain  on  the  other,  quite  to  the  South  Sea. 

"  It  is  highly  desirable  that  this  extensive  region  should  be  visited,  in 
u  some  part  at  least,  by  intelligent  men." 


(NoTE  G.) 

The  progress  of  the  Human  Mind  from  Rudeness  to  Refinement  7- 
exemplified  in  an  Account  of  the  Method  pursued  by  Col.  Ben- 
jamin Hawkins,  under  the  Authority  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  to  civilize  certain  Tribes  of  Savages  within 


07 
their  Territory.     New-York,  1816. 

The  war  which  in  1814  led  the  inhabitants  df  Tennessee  and  Georgia  t& 
destroy,  in  their  own  defence,  a  considerable  part  of  the  Creek  nation,  has 
been  interpreted  by  some  persons  as  proving  the  inutility  of  attempts  to  civil- 
ize savages.  This  conclusion  is  incorrect.  The  Cherokees  have  been  initia- 
ted into  the  arts  of  improved  life  as  well  as  the  Creeks;  and  yet  the  Creeks 
only  have  engaged  in  hostility  against  the  United  States,  There  must  there- 
fore have  been  some  other  cause  than  the  lessons  they  have  learned  from 
our  agents.  And  this  was  probably  the  instigation  of  our  secret  and  avow- 
ed enemies. 

Until  this  exterminating  warfare  arose,  the  great  problem  of  civilizing  the 
aborigines  was  believed  by  many  to  have  been  in  a  fair  way  of  being  solved, 
or  rather  that  it  was  already  solved  in  the  United  States.  The  subjects  of 
this  philanthropic  and  instructive  experiment  were  the  Creeks  and  Chero- 
kees. The  former  of  these  nations  of  Indians  came  from  the  west  of  the 
Mississippi.  There  is  a  tradition  among  them,  that  there  are  in  the  fork  of 
Red-River,  two  mounds  of  earth,  and  that  at  that  place  the  Cussatuhs, 
Cowetuhs  and  Chickasaws  found  themselves  ;  that  being  distressed  by  wars 
with  red-men,  their  forefathers  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  travelling  east- 
ward, they  passed  the  falls  of  Tallapoosa  above  Tookaubatche,  and  settled 
below  the  rapids  of  Chatahooche.  Hence  they  spread  out  to  Ocmulgee, 
Oconee,  Savannah,  and  down  the  sea-coast  towards  Charleston,  where  they 
first  saw  white  people.  By  those  they  were  resisted  and  compelled  to  re- 
treat to  their  present  settlements. 

This  nation  possessed  a  tract  of  country  about  three  hundred  miles  square, 
It  is  for  soil  and  climate,  as  well  as  natural  advantages  in  general,  not  sui> 
passed  perhaps  by  any  spot  of  equal  extent,  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  The 
number  of  warriors  at  the  last  enumeration  amounted  to  about  four  thousand. 
Their  settlements  have  been  surrounded  for  many  years  by  the  Americans, 
the  French,  Spaniards  and  English.  They  were  tempted  in  various  ways  to 
be  concerned  in  the  leagues  and  stratagems  of  their  neighbours,  who  wished 
to  get  possession  of  their  lands.  They,  however,  generally  conducted  them- 
selves with  remarkable  prudence,  and  avoided  such  alliances  as  might  impli- 
cate them  in  depopulating  wars.  Accordingly,  they  preserved  their  national 
existence,  and  at  the  commencement  of  our  federative  government,  attracted 
a  large  and  early  attention. 

The  greatness  of  their  numbers,  the  value  of  their  lands,  and  their  conti- 
guity to  the  colonies  of  the  enterprising  nations  of  Europe,  made  it  necessary 
to  have  a  seasonable  and  full  explanation  with  them*  At  that  time  George 
Washington  was  President  of  the  United  States  :  and  the  Creeks  were  in°a 
hostile  mood.  Congress  was  sitting  in  the  city  of  New- York  ;  and  the  prin- 
cipal subject  then  under  consideration  was,  whether  they  should  be  treated 
by  forcible  and  warlike  operations,  or  by  gentle  and  pacific  means.  The* 
considerate  statesmen  of  the  United  States  were  dividefl  in  opinion  on  these' 
points.  Some  wer*  ia  favour  of  the  exterminating,  and  ethers  of  thfe  coqci,. 
4J&tory  plafl.  Amojig  thft  "fcttjsr  was  Benjamin  Hawfcinl*  t-h«nr  a 


58 

Congress  irom  North  Carolina,  \vho  dissuaded  in  strong  terms  the  project  o* 
hostile  operations  against  the  Creeks.  By  his  interference  a  military  expe- 
dition was  withheld  until  a  negotiator  could  be  sent  into  the  nation,  and  in- 
vite them  to  a  peaceful  parley.  The  man  selected  for  this  service  was 
Marinus  Willet.  He  was  employed  in  preference  to  a  clergyman  whom  it 
was  originally  intended  to  send.  Willet  penetrated  their  country,  obtained 
a  hearing,  and  brought  with  him  M'Gillivray,  and  a  deputation  of  the  nation 
to  New- York.  Here  a  treaty  was  held,  and  a  peace  established  in  the  year 
J790. 

The  meditated  war  having  thus  failed,  the  next  thing  to  be  done  was  to 
regulate  trade  and  intercourse  between  the  red  men  and  the  white.  For  this 
purpose  Congress  passed  a  law  directing  the  manner  of  dealing  with  them, 
delineated  the  boundaries,  and  appointed  an  agent  to  superintend  the  de- 
partment of  Indian  affairs  south  of  the  river  Ohio.  This  was  during  the  ad- 
ministration of  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Hawkins  was  appointed  the  manager  of 
this  business.  He  had  previously  acted  a  distinguished  part  in  several  ne- 
gotiations with  the  natives,  and  had  acquired  much  knowledge  of  their  situ- 
ation, their  wants,  and  the  mode  of  doing  business  with  them.  Accepting 
the  commission,  this  gentleman  left  the  Senate,  quitted  polished  society,  and 
entered  upon  the  arduous  work  of  protecting  and  civilizing  the  Indians. 

An  undertaking  of  this  sort  has  of  late  been  deemed  chimerical  or  impos- 
sible. The  labours  of  the  zealous  Jesuits  and  the  industrious  Moravians  had 
so  frequently  proved  abortive,  that  few  even  of  the  well  wishers  of  the  expe- 
riment entertained  much  expectation  of  its  success.  The  agent,  however, 
was  sanguine  in  the  cause,  and  the  government  seconded  his  views.  In  the 
course  of  about  ten  years,  he  succeeded  in  advancing  some  of  these  people 
from  the  state  of  hunters  to  those  of  herdsmen,  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and 
manufacturers  ;  and  the  changes  in  their  moral,  intellectual  and  social  dispo- 
sition, have  been  effected  without  the  assistance  of  other  missionaries,  or  of 
scholastic  or  collegiate  education.  Indeed  Mr.  Hawkins  entertained  an  opi- 
nion that  an  introduction  to  the  mysteries  of  religion,  and  an  acquaintance 
with  the  intricacies  of  literature,  ought  to  follow,  and  not  precede,  an  initiation 
into  the  more  useful  and  necessary  arts,  such,  for  example,  as  those  of  pro- 
curing food  and  clothes. 

This  active  reformer  did  not  commence  his  undertakings  by  teaching  his 
pupils  the  shapes  and  sounds  of  letters  in  the  alphabet,  nor  the  dogmas  and 
doctrines  in  the  catechism.  He  omitted  these  things  altogether  ;  or  rather, 
he  studiously  forbade  their  introduction.  He  adhered  to  a  rule  of  interdic- 
tion against  all  preachers  of  every  sect,  from  holding  converse  with  the 
Creeks,  but  treated  members  of  the  church  with  great  politeness  in  other  re- 
spects, whenever  they  visited  the  agent  at  the  factory ;  and  for  several 
years,  the  alarms  of  the  natives  were  not  excited  by  the  discipline  and  les- 
sons of  schoolmasters.  When  Mr.  H.  first  presented  himself  among  the  In- 
dians, and  talked  to  the  assembled  chiefs  on  his  project  of  civilizing  them, 
they  replied  to  him  in  the  most  insulting  terms,  reprobated  his  scheme  with 
great  bitterness ;  and  concluded  by  uttering  sounds  of  the  most  contemptu- 
ous signification  around  the  circle. 

After  their  disgust  and  merriment  nad  in  some  measure  subsided,  be  fold 


them  in  a  mild  and  frank  discourse,  that  he  was  now  done  with  the  men  ; 
but  that,  as  he  was  by  no  means  discouraged,  he  should  quit  them,  and  ad- 
dress himself  to  the  other  sex.  This  he  soon  found  means  to  accomplish  ; 
and  by  soothing  arts,  by  kind  treatment,  and  by  assuring  them  that  he  could 
teach  them  now  to  procure  plenty  of  provisions  and  clothes  with  their  own 
hands,  he  gained  the  confidence  of  several  girls  and  women.  To  them  he 
imparted  the  arts  of  carding,  spinning,  and  weaving  ;  and  to  these  they  be- 
came soon  attached,  because  petticoats,  jackets  and  other  articles  of  dress 
could  thereby  be  easily  procured. 

But  it  was  not  possible  to  make  all  the  females  spinsters.  Some  for  want 
of  inclination  or  opportunity,  and  others  though  lack  of  machinery,  could  not 
practise  those  domestic  employments.  They  still  laboured  after  the  manner 
of  Indian  women  ;  and  among  other  occupations,  tended  a  little  patch  of 
maize  for  subsistence.  Finding  that  sometimes  the  women  had  a  surplus  of 
corn,  the  agent's  next  point  was  to  teach  them  to  exchange  it  for  something 
to  make  petticoats  and  other  raiment.  With  this  view  he  instructed  them 
in  the  use  of  measures,  and  these  he  reduced  to  an  intelligible  value  in  mo- 
ney. A  bushel  of  corn,  for  example,  was  valued  at  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  ; 
and  where  this  precise  coin  was  not  at  hand,  the  sign  of  it  was  a  single  white 
mark,  called  a  chalk.  This  word  thence  became  a  nominal  coin,  or  rate  of 
value ;  and  as  a  chalk  of  corn  denoted  a  "  bushel,"  so  a  chalk  of  calico,  to- 
bacco, or  any  thing  else  would  signify  as  much  of  either  of  these  articles  as 
could  be  bought  by  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  the  estimated  value  of  a  bushel  of 
corn. 

While  this  agent  was  proceeding  by  these  means  to  improve  and  enlarge 
the  minds  of  the  Creeks,  he  was  not  neglectful  of  the  use  and  application  of 
tveights.  He  made  figures  to  illustrate  the  construction  of  steelyards,  on  a 
piece  of  paper.  He  explained  this  to  one  woman,  and  after  making  her  com- 
prehend it,  handed  it  to  another.  And  by"  ascertaining  the  weight  of  hogs, 
and  other  things,  which  used  always  to  be  sold  by  tale,  and  reducing  them  to 
chalks  or  quarter  dollars,  he  made  his  learners  understand  that  a  heavy  hog 
was  worth  more  than  a  light  one  ;  and  by  actually  paying  them  in  propor- 
tion to  the  weight,  demonstrated  to  them  the  difference  in  value  between 
things  heretofore  rated  alike.  This  gave  them  great  satisfaction,  and  made 
them  more  careful  to  fatten  their  hogs.  The  like  happened  in  respect  to  corn. 
This  was  formerly  sold  by  the  varying  quantity  of  a  basket  full,  till  Mr.  H. 
instructed  them  in  the  use  of  an  established  and  unvarying  measure,  the  half 
bushel ;  taught  them  to  reduce  such  a  measure  to  a  certain  weight  by  the  steel- 
yard ;  and  then  again  to  calculate  this  weight  in  chalks  or  quarter  dollars. 

At  the  same  time,  as  much  pains  was  taken  as  possible  to  instruct  the  boys 
and  girl's  about  the  agent's  house,  and  in  his  family,  in  the  practice  of  the  En_ 
glish  tongue.  In  like  manner  the  Indian  children  who  lived  with  his  negroes, 
were  taught  to  speak  our  tongue.  But  all  this  was  accomplished  by  rote,  and 
without  the  sight  or  mention  of  a  book. 

Progressing  in  these  ways,  the  spinning  and  weaving  of  cotton  increased  ra- 
pidly. There  were  in  1805,  twenty  looms  in  the  lower,  and  ten  among  the  up- 
per towns.  Of  the  former,  twelve  were  wrought  by  Indian?,  and  eight  ofthem 
were  constructed  by  Indians.  Of  the  latter,  three  were  worked  by  natives. 


GO 

fend  three  were  built  by  them.  Three  of  the  looms  in  the  upper  towns  Weib, 
Jcept  agoing  by  a  white  woman  for  a  toll  which  was  fixed  at  every  fifth  yard. 
The  women  on  the  Flint  river  had  then  applied  for  fifty  additional  spinning 
wheels.  And  such  was  the  power  of  example  prompted  by  interest,  that  some 
old  men  and  boys  learned  to  spin,  and  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  the  exer- 
cise. In  the  upper  towns  there  Was  at  that  time  a  demand  for  five  more  looms  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  more  spinning  wheels.  Several  men  of  the  half  breed-, 
had  both  constructed  looms  and  wove  cloth  in  them,  with  their  own  hands. 

Encouraged  by  these  prospects  and  successes,  the  women  appointed  a  time- 
and  solicited  a  talk  with  the  agent.  They  appointed  one  of  their  venerable 
ittatrons  to  deliver  the  talk  to  him  in  their  behalf.  He  met  them,  and  in  the 
assembly  of  the  women,  was  thus  addressed :  "  Father,  we  women  are  poor  and 
foolish ;  but  you,  as  our  great  father,  will  excuse  our  poverty,  and  pardon  our 
lolly.  When  white  men  have  came  into  our  nation,  they  have  never  studied 
the  good  of  the  women,  nor  endeavoured  to  better  their  oppressed  condition. 
All  they  have  hitherto  done  is  to  make  our  situation  more  wretched.  They 
have  employed  every  art  to  raise  and  shorten  our  petticoats,  and  have  there- 
by left  us  more  exposed  and  naked  than  they  found  us.  But  you,  father, 
commiserate  our  condition  ;  you  pity  our  nakedness  and  weakness  ;  you  say 
you  will  instruct  us  to  cover  ourselves,  and  be  decent  and  warm  ;  you  will 
enable  us  to  support  ourselves,  so  that  we  and  our  children  shall  be  in  no 
danger  of  starving  in  the  swamps.  You  come  to  lengthen  our  petticoats, 
and  extend  them  over  us  from  the  hips  to  the  ankles.  Father,  we  will  follow 
.your  advice  :  speak,  and  we  will  obey." 

He  by  degrees  encouraged  them  to  split  rails,  to  make  fencies  of  them,  to 
inclose  their  fields,  and  to  till  them  with  their  own  hands;  himself  showing 
them  how,  and  by  his  example,  convincing  them  that  it  was  at  once  respec- 
table and  Useful.  Among  the  Creeks  there  was  a  peculiar  difficulty  in  over- 
coming the  aversion  of  the  men  to  labour.  Inured  alternately  to  hunting, 
indolence  and  war,  they  threw  all  the  toil  of  domestic  affairs,  the  carrying  of 
burthens,  and  the  drudgery  of  life  uoon  their  females.  It  was  therefore  a 
hard  lesson  to  make  the  men  work  at  all ;  and  particularly  to  assist  the  wo- 
men in  their  laborious  occupations.  The  men,  however,  had  learned  by 
this  time,  that  as  game  grew  scarce  in  the  forests,  the  employments  of  the 
women  and  girls  turned  to  much  better  account  than  their  own,  and  that 
with  their  pigs,  maize,  and  cotton,  the  females  had  already  rendered  them* 
selves  in  a  good  degree  independent  of  the  men.  ft  was  now  that  the  agent 
advised  the  young  women  to.  refuse  favours  to  their  sweethearts,  and  the 
married  women  to  repel  the  caresses  of  their  husbands,  unless  they  would  as- 
sociate with  them,  and  assist  them  in  their  daily  labours.  This  expedient, 
though  perhaps  not  rigidly  enforced,  nor  in  all  cases  adhered  to,  was  how- 
ever not  without  its  effect  in  breaking  the  ferocity  of  the  masculine  temper, 
find  reducing  it  to  a  milder  and  softer  tone. 

To  enforce  the  necessity  of  industry,  M.  H.  availed  himself  of  thescanti* 
Vtess  of  provisions  to  give  them  an  exhortation.  Some  instances  had  been  re- 
ported of  children  dying  of  hunger,  and  particularly,  of  two  little  girls,  as 
lie  was  on  his  way  to  a  conference  with  the  chiefs.  At  the  conference,  the 
subject  was  mentioned  by  Mr.  C-'arnelis  th&  interpreter,  and  after  some  ob* 


61 

•5crvations  made  by  the  chiefs,  Mr.  H.  stated  that  these  events  had  made  a 
serious  impression  upon  his  mind,  and  on  the  way  to  the  conference  he  had 
put  the  question  to  himself,  who  killed  these  little  girls?  This  answer  imme- 
diately obtruded  itself:  "You,  Mr.  Hawkins,  you  murdered  these  little 
girls.  You  Efau  Hai3'o,  Oche'  Haiyo,  and  Tushinmeggee  Telhco,  you 
murdered  these  little  girls.  You  chiefs  and  rulers  of  the  nation,  you  mur- 
dered these  little  girls,  In  all  countries  it  is  the  business  of  the  rulers  to  di- 
rect the  labour  of  the  community  so  as  to  support  the  people,  and  if  they 
neglect  to  do  it,  they  are  answerable  for  the  consequences.  If  a  bear,  or  any 
man,  red  or  white,  had  attempted  to  murder  these  little  girls,  you  would 
have  risked  your  lives  individually  or  collectively  to  save  theirs.  And  yet 
you  would  not  exert  yourselves  to  destroy  this  enemy  called  hunger." 

The  presenting  the  subject  in  this  dress  caused  some  serious  conversations 
among  the  Indians,  and  the  result  was  that  they  would  sow  wheat,  and  exert 
themselves  to  destroy  the  enemy  called  hunger.  Preparatoy  to  this  they  had 
in  1804,  committed  to  the  earth  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  bushels  of 
seed  ;  this  afforded  an  excellent  crop,  and  was  instrumental  in  saving  several 
lives.  The  agent  furnished  the  seed  from  his  own  stock.  The  wheat  crop 
is  ripe  in  May ;  and  the  corn  crop,  which  in  favourable  seasons  is  also  ex- 
ceedingly good,  comes  to  maturity  in  June. 

The  speaker  of  the  nation  has  his  farm  in  good  fence,  staked  and  ridered. 
He  cultivates  his  whole  crop  with  the  plough.  Last  year  he  planted  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  peach  trees,  and  sowed  three  bushels  of  wheat.  He  had 
also  begun  the  culture  of  cotton,  and  had  a  fine  field  of  it ;  likewise  a  pro- 
raising  show  of  corn,  potatoes,  pumpkins,  ground  peas  and  beans.  He  had 
nine  females  of  his  family  employed  in  spinning,  and  a  loom  in  his  house  with 
a  spring  shuttle.  The  like  was  done  by  several  other  of  the  most  considera- 
ble men,  who  employed  the  plough  in  agriculture  and  clothed  themselves  in 
homespun. 

Neat  cattle  were  owned  in  large  numbers  by  the  Indians.  Several  of  them 
have  herds  amounting  to  100, 500,  1000,  and  eveu  2000  heads.  They  had  be- 
come very  much  attached  to  this  kind  of  stock,  and  took  great  pains  to  pro- 
cure them.  These  creatures  are  computed  to  double  their  numbers  every 
three  years.  Their  owners  exchange  them  with  Georgians  for  cloths.  Butter 
and  cheese  have  been  made  in  more  than  an  hundred  place".  In  1804,  these 
arts  were  rapidly  increasing.  The  men  had  also  become  acquainted  wilh  the 
tanning  of  hides  into  leather  ;  and  the  making  of  the  latter  into  saddles. 

They  also  had  negro  slaves  to  work  for  them.  The  African  temperament, 
which  bends  to  servitude  under  the  dominion  of  the  black  and  white  man,  sub- 
mits also  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  red-man.  Several  of  the  more  wealthy  In- 
dians hold  a  number  of  such  domestics.  They  were  rapidly  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  real  estates,  a  >d  of  the  utility  of  holding  their  lands  and  improve- 
ments in  severally.  In  evidence  of  which,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  num- 
ber of  them  were  growing  solicitous  about  deeds  and  titles. 

One  remarkable  fact  concerning  their  progress  in  calculation  is  well  wor- 
thy of  notice.  In  teaching  them  the  use  of  the  steelyard,  they  necessarily 
became  acquainted  with  arithmetical  cyphers.  By  a  little  practice,  not 
more  than  other  persons  are  obliged  to  take,  they  learned  the  use  of  these 
signs  in  adding,  subtracting,  multiplying  and  dividing  numbers,  and  became 


02 

j 

ready  and  correct  calculators.  And  this  they  accomplished  without  being 
able  to  read  a  single  letter.  The  symbols  of  numbers  being  signs  of  ideas, 
were  acquired  with  equal  ease  by  persons  of  all  languages,  while  letters  or 
alphabetical  characters  being  signs  of  simple  sounds,  can  be  comprehended 
by  the  persons  only  who  are  conversant  in  the  tongue  which  they  are  intend- 
ed to  explain.  A  Muskogee  Indian,  therefore  is  exactly  in  this  state  of  ad- 
vancement ;  he  can  sum  up  an  invoice  or  bill  of  parcels,  by  virtue  of  his 
knowledge  ofjigurest  but  he  cannot  read  a  word  nor  line  of  the  writing  on 
account  of  his  total  ignorance  of  letters. 

Thus  they  begin  to  find  the  usefulness,  and  suffer  the  want  of  literature. 
The  inconveniences  and  disadvantages  of  this  situation  rendered  the  older 
class,  and  especially  those  who  had  property,  desirous  of  procuring  a  better 
education  for  then  ch  Idren.  And  under  the  operation  of  this  conviction* 
they  begun  to  admit  schoolmasters,  to  make  their  idle  and  vagrant  boys  sub- 
mit to  restraint,  and  to  receive  regular  instruction  in  reading  and  writing  the 
English  language. 

Great  solicitude,  however,  was  expressed  on  this  subject  by  the  chiefs.  Seve- 
ral of  their  young  men  had  been  educated  from  home,  among  and  by  the  white 
people,  and  had  returned  into  the  nation,  completely  ruined  for  all  the 
purposes  of  usefulness.  They  had  acquired  such  a  contempt  for  the  In- 
dian life  and  manners,  that  they  violated  the  customs  their  forefathers,  and 
disobeyed  the  rulers.  Losing  public  confidence  in  this  manner,  they  were  suf- 
fered to  wander  and  prowl  through  the  nation,  without  being  taken  notice 
of,  or  suffered  to  have  a  share  in  its  government.  There  was  no  small  ana- 
logy between  these  youths,  and  those  of  our  own  nation  who  go  to  Europe 
for  instruction.  They  but  too  often  acquire  foreign  manners  and  habits,  con- 
ceive a  dislike  for  their  country,  its  inhabitants  and  institutions,  and  often- 
times mar  their  own  happiness,  and  turn  out  useless  to  the  public.  So  an  In- 
dian lad,  educated  among  white  people,  has  never  in  any  instance  been  known 
to  say  one  word  in  recommendation  of  the  wheel,the  loom  or  the  plough,  of  use- 
ful arts,  or  domestic  manufactures,  or,  in  short,  of  any  thing  conducive  to  the 
general  welfare.  On  the  contrary,  their  discourse  principally  turns  on  the  ex- 
travagance in  which  they  lived,  and  the  dissipations  in  which  they  shared  ;  but 
they  utter  not  a  sentence  on  the  condition  of  the  greater  part  of  their  species, 
and  of  the  human  race  who  are  doomed  to  live  by  labour.  But  education  in 
their  own  country,  of  the  kind  which  their  state  of  society  requires,  and  to 
the  degree  called  for  by  their  actual  need,  will  gradually  creep  in  and  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  most  salutary  changes  in  their  situation. 

In  many  of  the  villages,  particularly  of  the  Lower  Creeks,  the  natives  had 
already  made  considerable  progress  in  the  silversmith's  business  Ornaments 
of  silver,  such  as  spurs,  broaches,  rings,  silver  beads,  ornaments  for  the  ears 
and  nose,  armbands  and  wristbands  were  manufactured  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent. 

Considerable  steps  had  also  been  taken  in  the  gunsmith's  art,  particularly 
stocking  the  pieces,  and  doing  some  of  the  work  about  the  locks. 

These  are  some  of  the  leading  features  of  Mr.  Hawkins'  mode  of  treating; 
these  uncivilized  tribes,  and  leading  them  on  froa  rudeness  toward  refinement. 
Indeed,  the  business  of  civilizing  Indians,  however  problematical  it  may 


63 

once  have  seemed,  was  deemed  to  have  been  in  a  train  of  successful  progress. 
There  came  in  1805  a  deputation  of  eighteen  Cherokees  to  the  seat  of  the  na- 
tional government :  they  were  all  men  of  property,  and  lived,  when  at  home, 
on  enclosed  and  cultivated  farms.  They  were  clad  after  our  manner,  in 
homespun  cloth  of  their  own  spinning,  dyeing  and  weaving.  And  several  of 
them  speak  our  tongue,  I  have  seen  letters  written  by  Cherokee  girls  of 
the  half-breed,  as  well  expressed,  and  in  an  good  a  hand  as  our  young  females 
write. 

I  might  relate  to  you  what  other  measures  had  been  adopted  to  instil  into 
the  minds  of  these  people  more  correct  notions  and  practices  of  civil  and  cri- 
minal law,  than  the  barbarous  and  bloody  policy  they  formerly  pursued. 
The  agent  had  progressed  so  far  as  to  take  punishment  out  of  the  hands  of 
th«  irritated  individual,  and  inflict  it  upon  the  offender  by  the  public  arm. 
And  he  had  instituted  a  court  of  law,  where  substantial  justice  was  speedily 
obtained  by  a  trial  upon  the  naked  merits  of  the  case. 

The  influence  of  music  was  tried  with  remarkable  benefit  among  the  Che- 
rokees. The  young  women  had  clothed  themselves  handsomely,  after  our 
manner,  in  cotton  fabrics  of  their  own  manufacture.  They  then  were  qua- 
lified to  dance  to  the  tunes  of  the  violin.  Care  was  taken  to  teach  the  steps, 
figures  and  gestures  of  the  white  people.  They  soon  became  active  and 
graceful  dancers.  This  had  a  surprising  effect  upon  the  young  men.  For 
they  were  excluded  from  the  company,  unless  they  would  dress  themselves 
in  a  decent  manner.  The  attire  and  the  occasion  obliged  them  to  behave 
themselves  properly.  And  thus  were  their  manners  softened  and  refined. 

On  surveying  the  efforts  of  theological  missionaries  ever  since  the  settle- 
ment of  our  country,  it  is  truly  lamentable  that  they  have  done  so  little. 
Generally  speaking,  their  labours,  even  those  of  the  early  and  zealous  Je- 
suits, have  been  lost  or  misapplied.  Many  of  our  considerate  and  contem- 
plative men  have  altogether  despaired  of  either  civilizing  or  christianizing 
the  savages.  It  now  appears  what  is  the  cause  of  so  many  and  such  lament- 
able failures.  We  discern  wherefore,  with  such  mighty  efforts,  so  small  an 
amount  of  good  has  been  done. 

Missionary  individuals  and  societies  have  begun  the  work  at  the  wrong 
end.  They  have  attempted  to  instil  the  doctrines  of  a  sublime  religion,  be- 
fore they  introduced  arts  and  manufactures,  and  before  they  tamed  man,  and 
made  him  a  settled  and  domestic  animal.  And  while  they  proceeded  in  this 
way,  they  either  totally  failed,  or  made  but  trifling  progress — whereas,  if 
they  would  employ  the  same  amount  of  capital,  and  zeal,  and  talent  in  hu- 
manizing the  wild  hunters  of  the  forest,  their  condition  would  instantly  im- 
prove ;  their  tribes  be  preserved  from  extinction  ;  by  degrees  the  useful  arts 
of  agriculture  and  manufacture  would  gain  an  establishment;  and  upon  this 
foundation  every  kind  of  improvement  might  be  erected. 

(NOTE  H.) 

Dear  Sir,  Monticello,  June  13,  1800. 

Your  favour  of  May  15,  happened  to  be  written  on  the  very  day  on  which 
I  left  Philadelphia ;  and  as  I  took  a  very  circuitous  route  and  was  long  on  th* 


way,  it  is  but  lately  I  have  received  it  here.  The  interesting  paper  it  eov .- 
ered  goes  by  this  post  to  the  Philosophical  Society  at  Philadelphia.  The  ca- 
lamities which  our  great  cities  have  experienced  from  the  new  infection  ren- 
tier it  important  to  discover  what  are  those  principles  in  nature  which  forbid 
the  soil  to  be  covered  here  with  a  solid  block  of  buildings,  and  men  to  be  pil- 
ed on  one  another,  as  they  may  with  impunity  in  Europe.  Do  our  cloudless 
skies  and  the  solar  heat  consequently  accumulated,  generate  effects  here  on 
the  same  materials  which  are  innocent  under  the  bank  of  clouds  constantly 
hovering  over  Europe?  However,  while  those,  who,  like  yourself,  hold  the 
clues  to  nature's  secrets,  are  engaged  in  pursuing  them,  we  of  the  multitude 
may  rest  in  tranquillity  under  the  assurance  that  they  will  at  length  be  laid 
open.  Nor  is  it  in  physics  alone  that  we  shall  be  found  to  differ  from  the  other 
hemisphere.  I  strongly  suspect  that  our  geographical  peculiarities  may  call 
for  a  different  code  of  natural  law  to  govern  our  relations  with  other  nations 
from  that  which  the  conditions  of  Europe  have  given  rise  to  there.  I  sincere- 
ly join  in  your  congratulations  on  the  revival  of  those  principles  on  which 
our  republic  has  been  founded;  perhaps  future  ages  may  never  know  the  real 
soporific,  which,  in  gentle  slumbers,  was  earring  them  to  their  grave. 

I  am  with  great  esteem,  and  respect,  Dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 
DR,  MITCHILL. 


Washington,  May  21,1 805. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  presents  his  friendly  salutations  to  Dr.  Mitchill,  and 
sends  him  the  extract  of  a  letter  he  has  received  from  Mr.  T.  M.  Randolph, 
with  a  small  bag  containing,  as  he  supposes,  the  specimen  of  salt  mentioned  by 
Mr.  Randolph.  He  received  but  one,  though  tw«  are  mentioned. 

"  A  person  from  Greenbriar  county  of  this  state,  the  owner  of  a  very  large 
cave  near  the  court  house,  from  which  great  quantities  of  saltpetre  have 
been  made,  has,  a  day  or  two  since,  lodged  with  me  a  specimen  of  a  kind  of 
salt  produced  in  an  attempt  to  make  saltpetre  from  the  earth  of  a  newly 
discovered  chamber  of  the  cave.  This  specimen  seems  to  consist  of  at  least 
two  distinct  neutral  salts,  one  of  which  is  to  my  tongue  Glauber's  salts  exact- 
ly. I  suspect  a  third  to  exist  also,  but  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining,  nor 
even  of  determining  the  form  of  the  chrystals,  which  are  so  small  that  they 
quire  a  glass  to  magnify  them.  I  send  by  the  stage  a  specimen  to  you,  and 
and  one  for  Dr.  Mitchill,  which  I  must  trouble  you  to  forward  to  him.  A  pro- 
mise which  I  could  not  avoid  making  the  proprietor  of  the  cave,  to  have  the 
product  of  it  analysed  and  its  value  determined  for  him,  forces  me  to  give 
you  this  trouble." 


THOS.  JEFFERSON  presents  his  compliments  to  Dr.  MitchiU  and  his  thank* 
for  the  pamphlet  he  was  so  kind  as  to  send  him,  and  which  he  communica- 
ted to  Mr.  Randolph.  He  expects  on  his  return  to  Washington  (which  will 
be  in  three  weeks  from  this  time)  to  find  there  a  great  collection  of  the  cheny- 
ical  subjects  of  Louisana  which  Captain  Lewis  has  senrt,  with  a  desire  'f <• 


65 

forward  to  the  Philosophical  Society  at  Philadelphia  :  from  them  we  are  td 
hope  to  learn  their  contents.  He  tenders  to  Dr.  Mitchill  his  friendly  saluta- 
tions and  assurances  of  great  respect. 

Monticillo,  September  8,  1805. 


THOMAS  JFFFERSON  returns  his  thanks  to  Dr.  Mitchill  for  the  statistical 
manual  of  New- York,  and  is  pleased  with  every  evidence  of  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  so  important  a  city.  The  Secretary  at  War  would  have  set  out 
this  day,  but  for  'he  rain  now  falling,  to  meet  the  Vice  President  and  Colonel 
Williams  there,  to  consider  what  works  can  be  of  any  avail  towards  protect- 
ing that  city  from  naval  enterprises.  Thomas  Jefferson  salutes  Dr.  Mitchill 
with  friendship  and  respect. 

Washington,  June  24,  1807. 


(NOTE  I.) 

February  27,  1806. 
Dear  Sir, 

Wednesday,  February  the  19th,  was  delivered  a  message  from  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  relative 
to  the  discoveries  made  upon  the  Missouri  River  ;  whereupon  it  was  ordered, 
that  1000  copies  of  the  message,  together  with  the  accompanying  communi- 
cations be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  members ;  I  request  you  will  send  me 
one  of  the  accompanying  communications,  by  the  post.  I  am  very  weak, 
and  have  evident  signs  of  an  approaching  dissolution ;  but  I  have  lived  long 
enough  since  -  have  lived  to  see  a  mighty  people  animated  with  the  spirit 
to  be  FREE,  and  governed  by  transcendant  abilities  and  honour.  If  where 
I  am  going  1  am  allowed  to  look  down  and  behold  the  world  I  leave,  I  shall 
rejoice  to  find  the  United  States,  beyond  example,  a  great  and  a  flourishing 
people.  I  am,  Dear  Sir, 

Your  Obedient  Servant, 

HORATIO  GATES. 


(NOTE  J.) 

Extracts  of  Letter  from  Dr.  PRIESTLEY,  dated  at  Northumberland, 
and  addressed  to  Dr.  MITCHILL  at  Washington,  Jan.  9,  1802. 

I  feel  myself  much  obliged  to  you  and  Dr.  Miller  for  so  early  an  admission 
of  my  paper  on  Galvanism  into  the  Medical  Repository.  I  have  another  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Cruickshank  in  Nicholson's  Journal  to  Woodhouse,  to  be  for- 
warded to  the  Repository;  which  I  hope  you  will  insert  when  convenient.  I 
am  very  glad  to  hear  of  the  extensive  circulation  of  that  valuable  work, 

I 


66 

•which  does  so  much  credit  to  the  conductors  and  the  country.  I  shall  always 
think  myself  honoured  by  the  publication  of  any  article  of  mine  in  it. 

My  bookseller  in  L-mdon  having  disappointed  me,  I  am  at  present  much 
behind  hand  in  philosophical  intelligence,  by  which  I  suffer  much.  In  win- 
ter, also,  I  am  not  fond  of  going  much  into  my  laboratory ;  so  that  I  do  very 
little  in  the  way  of  experiments  at  present ;  though,  in  other  respects,  I  am 
not  quite  idle.  I  feel,  however,  the  effect  of  years,  and  am  by  no  means  so 
active  as  I  have  been.  Neither  have  I  recovered  from  the  effect  of  the  fever 
I  had  i.  Philadelphia.  I  am  much  thinner  and  weaker;  and  this  I  fancy  has 
been  in  some  measure  the  cause  of  the  ague  which  I  have  had  lately,  and 
which  I  nerer  had  before.  What  matters  of  importance  have  you  in  discus- 
sion? 

April  17,  1802. 

I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  curious  account  of  the  federal  city  ;  but  it 
does  not  excite  any  wish  to  visit  it  I  shall  be  glad  to  know  how  long  your 
session  is  likely  to  continue,  and  to  be  informed  of  any  thing  of  a  political  na- 
ture that  is  not  to  be  expected  in  a  common  newspaper. 

Jan.  8,  1803. 

I  think  myself  much  honoured  by  the  respectful  mention  of  me  by  your 
friends  in  Congress,  and  could  wish  to  pay  them  a  visit.  But  at  my  time  of 
life,  the  inconvenience  of  a  journey  at  this  season  of  the  year  would  be  too 
great  for  me.  As  to  the  rhaplainship  to  Congress,  I  should  not  think  of  it. 
They  have  my  best  wishes  and  prayers  too,  without  any  salary.  1  rejoice 
greatly  in  the  present  aspect  of  public  affairs,  and  hope  it  will  long  continue. 
Our  excellent  President  will,  I  doubt  not,  keep  war  and  every  other  evil  as 
far  as  he  can  from  us. 

J.  PRIESTLEV. 

[A  Letter  from  John  S.  Mitchell,  of  Sunbury,  states  some  particulars  of  the 
disease  which  preceded  his  death — a  stricture  at  the  upper  orifice  of  the  sto- 
mach, &c.  The  event  took  place  on  the  6th  of  February,  1804.] 


(NOTE  K.) 

It  is  long  since  I  received  a  letter  from  my  old  friend,  Doctor  Mitchill.  I 
have,  indeed,  heard  of  him  now  and  then  through  another  medium :  but  it 
would  be  agreeable  to  me  to  see  a  letter  written  by  himself. 

I  have  been  so  much  indebted  to  him  for  the  extensive  circulation  of  my 
grammar,  in  my  native  country,  that  I  am  solicitous  he  would  accept  a  copy 
of  the  new  edition  of  it,  which  I  lately  completed.  The  first  volume  of  this 
octavo  impression,  besides  ,many  corrections  and  alterations,  contains  more 
than  forty  pages  of  additional  matter :  and  the  author  ventures  to  presume 
that  this  third  edition  of  the  book,  in  its  present  form,  will  be  found  to  be  not 
a  little  superior  to  all  the  preceding  impressions. 


67 

It  will  give  me  pleasure  to  hear  that  my  friend's  health  continues  to  be 
good,  and  that  he  is  yet  able  to  pursue  the  path  of  usefulness  in  which  he 
has  long  travelled.  That  he  may  be  blessed  with  as  great  a  portion  of  true 
enjoyment  as  this  mutable,  unsatisfying  world  can  afford,  and  when  his 
setting  sun  approaches,  may  be  cheered  by  the  prospect  of  a  bright  and  hap- 
py day  that  shall  last  forever,  is  my  earnest  desire. 

It  will  be  pleasing  to  my  friend  to  be  informed  that  now,  in  the  72nd  year 
of  my  age,  I  am  favoured  with  a  comfortable  state  of  health,  though  I  have 
been  confined  to  my  sitting  and  lodging  rooms,  for  more  than  six  years.  I  can 
sit  up  through  the  day,  read  and  write  a  little,  and  see  a  few  of  my  select 
friends  ;  but  the  weakness  of  my  voice,  which  is  often  confined  to  a  whisper, 
precludes  me  from  having  company  that  might  otherwise  be  gratifying  to 
me  ;  and  1  am  often  obliged  to  deny  myself  this  satisfaction.  I  am,  how- 
ever, amidst  my  various  privations,  under  deep  obligations  to  Divine  Provi- 
dence, for  the  many  blessings  which  I  enjoy ;  and  I  earnestly  hope  that  I 
may  be  enabled  and  disposed  to  improve  them  all  to  the  glory  of  the  Great 
Giver  of  all  good,  and  to  my  own  final  well  being. 

Be  so  obliging  as  to  remember  me  very  respectfully  to  our  worthy  friend, 
Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  who  I  hope  enjoys  a  good  state  of  health. 

I  remain  thy  sincere  friend, 

LINDLEY  MURRAY. 


,     - 


ERRATUM. 

In  the  Letter  of  the  Committee,  page  3,  instead  of  John  read  Joieph, 


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